Arrows A10

The Arrows A10 was a Formula One car which the Arrows team used to compete in the 1987 and 1988 (A10B) Formula One seasons. The car was designed by Ross Brawn.

As BMW announced to pull out officially at the end of 1986, the Arrows team brokered a deal with support from its primary sponsor, USF&G, to continue the use of the upright BMW engines under the name of its subsidiary Megatron, Inc., founded by long-time F1 aficionado John J. Schmidt, who coined the phrase "Horse racing may have been the sport of kings, but auto racing is the sport of corporations". The engines were serviced by Heini Mader from Switzerland, the former mechanic of Jo Siffert.

In 1987 the team improved from its 10th place in 1986 to finish in 7th place in 1987. Englishman Derek Warwick scored 3 points for the year and American Eddie Cheever managed to score 8 points..

The car was more successful in 1988 when most teams had converted to running 3.5L naturally aspirated engines in preparation for turbocharged engines being banned from 1989. Arrows finished 5th in the 1988 Constructors Championship and Eddie Cheever scored the A10's only podium finish with a 3rd placing at the 1988 Italian Grand Prix. Warwick actually finished 4th in that race only 0.582 seconds behind Cheever in a great result for the team. Derek Warwick finished 8th in 1988 with 17 points while Cheever scored 6 points and finished 12th in the final standings.

During 1988 the car and drivers were rated as a good chance to pick up points over the naturally aspirated cars due to having more power with the Megatron turbo. Unfortunately the for the team the FIA approved pop-off valve had a habit of cutting in before its 2.5 Bar limit which restricted power and often left the cars with plenty of fuel to spare at the end of a race. It took until just before the Italian Grand Prix for Heini Mader to get on top of the problem. A problem that Honda and Ferrari engineers had long since solved.

Complete Formula One results

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References