Ferrari goofs

There are two instances in which characters view live television broadcasts of events, something that would not have occurred in 1957, as such sporting occasions were typically shown in newsreels rather than transmitted live.

In the first sequence Enzo watches his cars competing live in a Grand Prix, and in the second his wife Laura views a live broadcast of the post‑Mille Miglia press conference.

Enzo says "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" in 1957. However, the phrase was not coined until the 1960s by American car dealer Bob Tasca.

In the overhead shot of Enzo Ferrari buying flowers from a street stall, an LED train sign is clearly visible at the top-centre of the frame. LED lights for railway signals were not introduced until many years after 1957.

It makes little sense that the bank clerk asks Laura how the name 'De Portago' is spelt; being Italian, he could have transcribed it phonetically without any trouble.

During the race Collins pulls into the pits and eats half a banana. The other half is handed round among the crew until one team member asks a boy "Do you want Collins' banana?" The boy happily accepts it while Enzo is talking to Collins. In the wide shot of Collins driving away from the pit lane you can see the boy taking the banana once more.

At around 1 hour 40 minutes, a Ferrari and a Maserati are racing alongside one another. In the first shot the Ferrari's radiator grille is clearly bent; in the next shot it appears as good as new.

In Italian, the word "driver" is used for taxi or limousine drivers, not for someone who competes on a racing circuit. The term for competitive racers is "pilot". Early in the film a newspaper headline employs the correct Italian term "pilot" when referring to a racer. The apparent mistake was probably deliberate to avoid confusing English-speaking audiences.

In fact, Jean Behra, who drove for Maserati, did not take part in the Mille Miglia after he broke his wrist in a practice crash prior to the race.

In the film, Enzo Ferrari is depicted behind the wheel of a Peugeot 403, whereas in reality he favoured Peugeot's 404 and 504 models.

The dashboard of Alfonso de Portago's 4.1-litre Tipo 335 Ferrari is visible over his left shoulder just before the crash. The large central gauge, the tachometer, shows the needle at the 10 o'clock position, which in this case indicates 0 rpm. The Tipo 335 engine reached a peak output of 390 hp at 7,400 rpm and had a top speed of roughly 180 mph. Drivers on the stretch between Goito and Guidizzolo would typically hit around 150 mph, so the engine would likely have been turning at least 5,000 rpm — approximately the 4 o'clock mark on the dial — rather than the 10 o'clock position shown.