Is this film on real story?

Yes — Ferrari (2023) is based on real events and real people, though some scenes and details are dramatized for narrative impact. Here’s how the movie aligns with the truth, and where it takes creative liberties:

What’s historically accurate

1. The film is adapted from the 1991 biography Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races, the Machine by Brock Yates. It focuses on Enzo Ferrari's life in 1957, a particularly dramatic year.
2. The death of his son Dino in 1956 and the strain it put on his marriage to Laura is a real part of Ferrari's personal story.
3. The affair with Lina Lardi, and recognition of their son Piero later in life, are grounded in fact.
4. Ferrari’s company was indeed in financial trouble at that time, and the 1957 Mille Miglia plays a central role — historically, Fiat and other companies were involved, and the race was known for being dangerous.
5. The film ends with the real tragedy at the 1957 Mille Miglia race: driver Alfonso de Portago’s crash near Guidizzolo, which killed de Portago, his navigator, and nine spectators (five of them children).

What’s dramatized or less certain

1. Some relationships and dialogue are invented or exaggerated to explore Enzo’s emotional life — private conversations with his wife Laura or mistress Lina are necessarily speculative.
2. The timing or sequence of certain legal or business events may be condensed or rearranged for dramatic pacing. For example, the film doesn’t portray in detail the manslaughter trial Enzo faced after the Mille Miglia crash.
3. Some small details have been questioned. For instance, the film shows live TV broadcasts in 1957 — something that historically would not have existed in that form. Also, a phrase (“win on Sunday, sell on Monday”) attributed to Enzo in the movie wasn’t coined until the 1960s.

If you want, I can compare particular scenes in the movie against historical sources to show exactly where truth ends and storytelling begins.

Sources: Based on Brock Yates’s biography, historical records of the 1957 Mille Miglia crash, comments by Enzo’s son Piero Ferrari about the film, and analyses of the movie’s accuracy.