Milan

Months away from a much-anticipated initial public offering, luxury-car manufacturer Ferrari SpA faces a problem with its famous red racing cars: They just don’t run very fast.

Ferrari didn’t manage a single win in 19 Formula One races last season, the first time in two decades that F1’s most iconic team has come up dry. Ferrari fired two team directors in a frustrating year that ended with Spain’s Fernando Alonso, a two-time world champion, leaving for rival McLaren.

“Last year, to be blunt, was a mess,” said David Cushnan, editor in chief of SportsPro magazine and its F1 publication, Black Book.

La Scuderia, as the team is known, has been struggling since Germany’s Michael Schumacher first retired in 2006 after piloting the Italian car to five straight F1 championships.