Arrows Grand Prix International

Arrows
Full name Arrows Grand Prix International
Base Milton Keynes, UK, later Leafield Technical Centre, UK
Founder(s) Franco Ambrosio
Alan Rees
Jackie Oliver
Dave Wass
Tony Southgate
Noted staff Tom Walkinshaw
Heini Mader
Ross Brawn
Noted drivers Italy Riccardo Patrese
Australia Alan Jones
Belgium Thierry Boutsen
Austria Gerhard Berger
United Kingdom Derek Warwick
United States Eddie Cheever
United Kingdom Damon Hill
Japan Taki Inoue
Netherlands Jos Verstappen
Formula One World Championship career
First entry 1978 Brazilian Grand Prix
Races entered 368
Constructors'
Championships
0
Drivers'
Championships
0
Race victories 0 (Best finish: five 2nd places, last one at 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix)
Podiums 9
Points 164
Pole positions 1
Fastest laps 0
Final entry 2002 German Grand Prix

Arrows Grand Prix International was a British Formula One team active from 1978 to 2002. For a period of time, it was also known as Footwork.

Origins

The Arrows Grand Prix International team was founded in Milton Keynes, England in 1977, by Italian businessman Franco Ambrosio, Alan Rees, Jackie Oliver, Dave Wass and Tony Southgate (from whose surnames' initials the team took its name) when they left the Shadow team.

Team sponsor Franco Ambrosio's initials were used in the name of Arrows' first car, the Arrows FA1. Shadow sued for copyright infringement, claiming that the FA1 was a copy of the Shadow DN9. Arrows designed a greatly revised car, the Arrows A1, in 52 days. It was shown the day after the High Court of Justice in London upheld Shadow's claim and banned the team from racing the FA1.

Ambrosio left the team in early 1977 when jailed in Italy for financial irregularities.

Arrows driver Riccardo Patrese who scored points in the team's third race, the US West Grand Prix at Long Beach.

Racing history

Arrows Grand Prix International

For the team's first season in Formula One, the team had signed Swede Gunnar Nilsson to be their first driver. However, he would never get to drive the car, since he contracted a fatal case of testicular cancer and died later that year.

In September 1978, in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Patrese was involved in an accident which eventually claimed the life of Ronnie Peterson. Patrese was wrongly accused of causing the accident and then subsequently banned from racing at the following event (the United States Grand Prix) by his fellow drivers. In 1981, Patrese scored the team's only Formula One pole position in Long Beach, which he led until retiring with mechanical problems on lap 33 of 80. Arrows finished joint eighth in the Constructors Championship that year.

In 1984 with BMW M12 turbo engines and sponsorship from cigarette company Barclay things got much better. That year they were ninth in the Constructors Championship and eighth in 1985. At the 1985 San Marino Grand Prix, Thierry Boutsen finished third behind Alain Prost and Elio de Angelis. However, after the race, Prost was disqualified because their cars were 2 kg underweight, giving Boutsen the second place. In 1987, BMW pulled out of Formula One and the engines were badged Megatron through a deal with Arrows major sponsor USF&G, but the British team had their best seasons yet, finishing sixth in 1987 and fifth in 1988 (the final year for turbocharged engines) thanks to frequent points finishes by drivers Eddie Cheever and Derek Warwick.

While 1987 and 1988 were Arrows' best years in F1, they were also the cause of frustration for the team and its drivers Warwick and Cheever. At the start of 1987 the sports ruling body (FIA) mandated that all turbo powered cars were to use a pop-off valve in order to restrict turbo boost. This was done not only to slow the cars down for safety reasons, but it was an effort to curb the rapidly rising costs of Formula One. The problem for Arrows was that the valve would regularly cut in lower than the set limit (4.0 bar in 1987, 2.5 bar in 1988). This meant that the Megatron engines were not producing their full power. It took the team's chief mechanic Heini Mader until just before the 1988 Italian Grand Prix at Monza (Round 12) to find the solution which was simply moving the valve closer to the engine, something Honda and Ferrari engineers had long before discovered. Although Cheever and Warwick finished the race in 3rd and 4th respectively, it was too little too late as the turbo era ended after the 1988 season.

Warwick and Cheever stayed with the team for 1989 and drove the Ross Brawn designed Arrows A11 which was powered by the Ford DFR V8 engine. The team's best finish came at the United States Grand Prix in Cheever's home town of Phoenix. There the American scored his final podium finish by finishing 3rd. Ultimately though Cheever struggled in the A11 (which had to be specially modified early in the season so the tall American could fit in the car) and he actually failed to qualify at the British and Italian Grands Prix. Warwick's perennial bad luck also continued. A long pit stop during the opening race in Brazil cost him what many believed would have been his first win, while at Round 6 in the wet Canadian Grand Prix, Warwick briefly led and was in second when his Ford V8 blew. He had been regularly faster than those behind him (including eventual winner Thierry Boutsen who drove a Williams-Renault), and could have won when race leader Ayrton Senna blew the Honda engine in his McLaren with only two laps remaining. After finishing 5th in 1988, Arrows dropped to 7th in 1989.

Footwork Arrows

Main article: Footwork Arrows

Japanese businessman Wataru Ohashi invested in Arrows in 1990 and the cars started displaying the Footwork logo prominently. The team was officially renamed Footwork in 1991, and secured a deal to race with Porsche engines, but the car was woefully uncompetitive and in 1992 they switched to Mugen. Arrows retained the Footwork name until Ito pulled out before the 1996 season, whereupon the name of the team was changed back to Arrows. Regardless, Jackie Oliver had retained control throughout the entire period.

TWR Arrows

At the 1997 British GP, Hill scored his first point for the Arrows team.

In March 1996, Tom Walkinshaw bought the team, and in September Walkinshaw signed up World Champion Damon Hill and hired wealthy Brazilian Pedro Diniz to help pay for Hill's salary. The team nearly secured a maiden victory at the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix where Hill started in third position and passed Michael Schumacher to take first place. A component failure in the final laps of the race saw him finish second. In the following years Walkinshaw would buy the rest of Oliver's shares.

In the 2000 season, Jos Verstappen returned to Arrows where he had driven in 1996 alongside teammate Pedro de la Rosa. The chassis was an Arrows A21 with a Supertec engine. The Supertec engine was not the most powerful, but was still very good, and had been developed further for this season. Allied to an excellent aerodynamic package, and good rear end stability, it allowed the Arrows A21 to consistently set the best straight line speeds around the circuits. Generally, both Verstappen and de la Rosa were competitive within a close midfield. During the 2000 season, the Arrows team took part in a 13-part TV series named 'Racing Arrows' which followed the team and drivers throughout the year. It was shown on British TV channel ITV in 2001 during late-night slots.[1]

A switch to Asiatech V10s in 2001 and the loss of a lot of staff left the team rather weaker in 2001 when Tom Walkinshaw decided to replace de la Rosa with F1 debutant Enrique Bernoldi.The team struggled through the season and Verstappen scored the team's only point in Austria.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Enrique Bernoldi deliberately failed to qualify per instruction of the Arrows Grand Prix team at the 2002 French Grand Prix as the team's financial problems worsened.[2]

For 2002, Walkinshaw made a deal to use Cosworth V10 engines and retained Bernoldi (with support from Red Bull) but dropped Verstappen in favour of Heinz-Harald Frentzen who became available when Prost Grand Prix closed down. This caused Verstappen to successfully sue for breach of contract. That year also saw a costly payout to Pedro Diniz after unsuccessfully suing the Brazilian, who had taken his funding to Sauber for 1999. The team faced a third litigation from Frentzen, who was on contract by a race-by-race basis and who had not yet been paid. Arrows ran out of money in the midseason and did not appear at all the races at the end of the year, their drivers deliberately failing to qualify for the French Grand Prix.

Negotiations were undertaken throughout the season with potential investors to buy into the team or buy it outright, such as Craig Pollock (who twice made an offer for the team) and Dietrich Mateschitz.

The team went into liquidation at the end of the season, also forcing TWR to close.[3]

A consortium fronted by Phoenix Finance – run by Charles Nickerson, a friend of Walkinshaw – purchased part of the team's assets, specifically the engines, believing that together with their purchase of old Prost Grand Prix assets, it would gain them entrance for the 2003 season. However, their application was rejected by the FIA.

In their chequered history, Arrows set the unenviable record of 382 races without a win, although they collected 9 podium finishes including 5 second places.

Further use of Arrows chassis

The chassis and intellectual property rights for the chassis were later bought by Paul Stoddart, the then-head of the Minardi team as a potential replacement for his own team's chassis. The new Super Aguri F1 team bought the 2002 cars and ran them (with some modifications) as the SA05 during the first races of the 2006 season. One of these cars was said to have been on display at Melbourne airport before being acquired by Super Aguri. After being returned to the factory to be updated to comply with the 2006 regulations, the car was taken back to Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix. An update still based on the same chassis was designated the SA06 and made its début at the 2006 German Grand Prix. The SA05 and SA06 did not score a single point in the 2006 season.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

Year Chassis Engine(s) Tyres Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Points WCC
Arrows
1978 FA1
A1
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G ARG BRA RSA USW MON BEL ESP SWE FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA USA CAN 11 10th
Italy Riccardo Patrese 10 Ret 6 6 Ret Ret 2 8 Ret 9 Ret Ret Ret EX 4
West Germany Rolf Stommelen 9 9 Ret Ret 14 14 15 DNQ DSQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ 16 DNPQ
1979 A1
A2
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G ARG BRA RSA USW ESP BEL MON FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA CAN USA 5 9th
Italy Riccardo Patrese DNS 9 11 Ret 10 5 Ret 14 Ret Ret Ret Ret 13 Ret Ret
West Germany Jochen Mass 8 7 12 9 8 Ret 6 15 Ret 6 Ret 6 Ret DNQ DNQ
1980 A3 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G ARG BRA RSA USW BEL MON FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA CAN USA 11 7th
Italy Riccardo Patrese Ret 6 Ret 2 Ret 8 9 9 9 14 Ret Ret Ret Ret
West Germany Jochen Mass Ret 10 6 7 Ret 4 10 13 8 DNQ 11 Ret
New Zealand Mike Thackwell DNQ
West Germany Manfred Winkelhock DNQ
1981 A3 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 M
P
USW BRA ARG SMR BEL MON ESP FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA CAN CPL 10 8th
Italy Riccardo Patrese Ret 3 7 2 Ret Ret Ret 14 10 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 11
Italy Siegfried Stohr DNQ Ret 9 DNQ Ret Ret Ret DNQ Ret 12 Ret 7 DNQ
Canada Jacques Villeneuve, Sr. DNQ DNQ
1982 A4
A5
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 P RSA BRA USW SMR BEL MON DET CAN NED GBR FRA GER AUT SUI ITA CPL 5 10th
United Kingdom Brian Henton DNQ DNQ Ret
Switzerland   Marc Surer WD 7 9 8 5 10 Ret 13 6 Ret 15 11 7
Italy Mauro Baldi DNQ 10 DNQ WD Ret DNQ Ret 8 6 9 Ret Ret 6 DNQ 12 11
1983 A6 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G BRA USW FRA SMR MON BEL DET CAN GBR GER AUT NED ITA EUR RSA 4 10th
Switzerland   Marc Surer 6 5 10 6 Ret 11 11 Ret 17 7 Ret 8 10 Ret 8
Brazil Chico Serra 9 Ret 8 7
Australia Alan Jones Ret
Belgium Thierry Boutsen Ret 7 7 15 9 13 14 Ret 11 9
1984 A6 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G BRA RSA BEL SMR FRA MON CAN DET DAL GBR GER AUT NED ITA EUR POR 3 10th
Belgium Thierry Boutsen 6 12 5
Switzerland   Marc Surer 7 9 8 Ret DNQ Ret Ret
A7 BMW M12/13 1.5 L4 t Ret Ret 11 Ret 6 Ret Ret Ret Ret 3 11th[nb 1]
Belgium Thierry Boutsen Ret 11 DNQ Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 5 Ret 10 9 Ret
1985 A8 BMW M12/13 1.5 L4 t G BRA POR SMR MON CAN DET FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA BEL EUR RSA AUS 14 8th
Austria Gerhard Berger Ret Ret Ret Ret 13 11 Ret 8 7 Ret 9 Ret 7 10 5 6
Belgium Thierry Boutsen 11 Ret 2 9 9 7 9 Ret 4 8 Ret 9 10 6 6 Ret
1986 A8
A9
BMW M12/13 1.5 L4 t G BRA ESP SMR MON BEL CAN DET FRA GBR GER HUN AUT ITA POR MEX AUS 1 10th
Switzerland   Marc Surer Ret Ret 9 9 9
West Germany Christian Danner Ret 11 Ret Ret Ret 6 8 11 9 Ret
Belgium Thierry Boutsen Ret 7 7 8 Ret Ret Ret NC NC 10 Ret Ret 7 10 7 Ret
1987 A10 Megatron M12/13 1.5 L4 t G BRA SMR BEL MON DET FRA GBR GER HUN AUT ITA POR ESP MEX JPN AUS 11 6th
United Kingdom Derek Warwick Ret 11 Ret Ret Ret Ret 5 Ret 6 Ret Ret 13 10 Ret 10 Ret
United States Eddie Cheever Ret Ret 4 Ret 6 Ret Ret Ret 8 Ret Ret 6 8 4 9 Ret
1988 A10B Megatron M12/13 1.5 L4 t G BRA SMR MON MEX CAN DET FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR ESP JPN AUS 23 5th
United Kingdom Derek Warwick 4 9 4 5 7 Ret Ret 6 7 Ret 5 4 4 Ret Ret Ret
United States Eddie Cheever 8 7 Ret 6 Ret Ret 11 7 10 Ret 6 3 Ret Ret Ret Ret
1989 A11 Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 G BRA SMR MON MEX USA CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR ESP JPN AUS 13 7th
United Kingdom Derek Warwick 5 5 Ret Ret Ret Ret 9 6 10 6 Ret Ret 9 6 Ret
United Kingdom Martin Donnelly 12
United States Eddie Cheever Ret 9 7 7 3 Ret 7 DNQ 12 5 Ret DNQ Ret Ret 8 Ret
1990 A11
A11B
Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 G USA BRA SMR MON CAN MEX FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR ESP JPN AUS 2 9th
Italy Michele Alboreto 10 Ret DNQ DNQ Ret 17 10 Ret Ret 12 13 12 9 10 Ret DNQ
West Germany Bernd Schneider 12 DNQ
Italy Alex Caffi Ret DNQ 5 8 DNQ Ret 7 9 9 10 9 13 9 DNQ
Footwork
1991 A11C
FA12
Porsche 3512 3.5 V12 G USA BRA SMR MON CAN MEX FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR ESP JPN AUS 0 NC
Italy Alex Caffi DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Sweden Stefan Johansson Ret DNQ
Italy Michele Alboreto Ret DNQ DNQ Ret Ret Ret
FA12C Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 Ret Ret DNQ DNQ DNPQ DNQ 15 Ret DNQ 13 0 NC
Sweden Stefan Johansson DNQ DNQ
Italy Alex Caffi DNPQ DNPQ DNQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ 10 15
1992 FA13 Mugen-Honda MF-351H 3.5 V10 G RSA MEX BRA ESP SMR MON CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR JPN AUS 6 7th
Italy Michele Alboreto 10 13 6 5 5 7 7 7 7 9 7 Ret 7 6 15 Ret
Japan Aguri Suzuki 8 DNQ Ret 7 10 11 DNQ Ret 12 Ret Ret 9 Ret 10 8 8
1993 FA13B
FA14
Mugen-Honda MF-351 HB 3.5 V10 G RSA BRA EUR SMR ESP MON CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR JPN AUS 4 9th
United Kingdom Derek Warwick 7 9 Ret Ret 13 Ret 16 13 6 17 4 Ret Ret 15 14 10
Japan Aguri Suzuki Ret Ret Ret 9 10 Ret 13 12 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 7
1994 FA15 Ford HBE7/8 3.5 V8 G BRA PAC SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR EUR JPN AUS 9 9th
Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Ret 4 13 Ret Ret DSQ 8 9 4 14 Ret Ret 8 17 8 8
Italy Gianni Morbidelli Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 5 Ret 6 Ret 9 11 Ret Ret
1995 FA16 Hart 830 3.0 V8 G BRA ARG SMR ESP MON CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR EUR PAC JPN AUS 5 8th
Italy Gianni Morbidelli Ret Ret 13 11 9 6 14 Ret Ret 3
Italy Max Papis Ret Ret Ret Ret 7 Ret 12
Japan Taki Inoue Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 9 Ret Ret Ret Ret 12 8 15 Ret Ret 12 Ret
1996 FA17 Hart 830 3.0 V8 G AUS BRA ARG EUR SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR JPN 1 9th
Brazil Ricardo Rosset 9 Ret Ret 11 Ret Ret Ret Ret 11 Ret 11 8 9 Ret 14 13
Netherlands Jos Verstappen Ret Ret 6 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 10 Ret Ret Ret 8 Ret 11
Arrows
1997 A18 Yamaha OX11A 3.0 V10 B AUS BRA ARG SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA AUT LUX JPN EUR 9 8th
United Kingdom Damon Hill DNS 17 Ret Ret Ret Ret 9 12 6 8 2 13 Ret 7 8 12 Ret
Brazil Pedro Diniz 10 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 8 Ret Ret Ret Ret 7 Ret 13 5 13 Ret
1998 A19 Arrows T2-F1 3.0 V10 B AUS BRA ARG SMR ESP MON CAN FRA GBR AUT GER HUN BEL ITA LUX JPN 6 7th
Brazil Pedro Diniz Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 6 9 14 Ret Ret Ret 11 5 Ret Ret Ret
Finland Mika Salo Ret Ret Ret 9 Ret 4 Ret 13 Ret Ret 14 Ret DNS Ret 14 Ret
1999 A20 Arrows T2-F1 3.0 V10 B AUS BRA SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR AUT GER HUN BEL ITA EUR MAL JPN 1 9th
Spain Pedro de la Rosa 6 Ret Ret Ret 11 Ret 11 Ret Ret Ret 15 Ret Ret Ret Ret 13
Japan Toranosuke Takagi 7 8 Ret Ret 12 Ret DSQ 16 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret
2000 A21 Supertec FB02 3.0 V10 B AUS BRA SMR GBR ESP EUR MON CAN FRA AUT GER HUN BEL ITA USA JPN MAL 7 7th
Spain Pedro de la Rosa Ret 8 Ret Ret Ret 6 Ret Ret Ret Ret 6 16 16 Ret Ret 12 Ret
Netherlands Jos Verstappen Ret 7 14 Ret Ret Ret Ret 5 Ret Ret Ret 13 15 4 Ret Ret 10
2001 A22 Asiatech 001 3.0 V10 B AUS MAL BRA SMR ESP AUT MON CAN EUR FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA USA JPN 1 10th
Netherlands Jos Verstappen 10 7 Ret Ret 12 6 8 10 Ret 13 10 9 12 10 Ret Ret 15
Brazil Enrique Bernoldi Ret Ret Ret 10 Ret Ret 9 Ret Ret Ret 14 8 Ret 12 Ret 13 14
2002 A23 Cosworth CR-3 3.0 V10 B AUS MAL BRA SMR ESP AUT MON CAN EUR GBR FRA GER HUN BEL ITA USA JPN 2 11th
Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen DSQ 11 Ret Ret 6 11 6 13 13 Ret DNQ Ret
Brazil Enrique Bernoldi DSQ Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 12 Ret 10 Ret DNQ Ret
Notes
  1. For the purposes of the World Constructors' Championship, a constructor is the combination of the person or body which designs the chassis and engine of the entry. Thus, Arrows-Ford and Arrows-BMW are recognised as separate entries in the championship.

References

External links

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