Fondmetal was one of those teams in the early 90s that tried their luck in the Formula One. The team appeared on the grid in 1991 and 1992. Like ATS and later RIAL also Fondmetal was an alloy wheels manufacturer. Gabriele Rumi was the person behind Fondmetal and in 1990 he had the idea to enter the F1 with it’s own team. There is no better way to promote yourself
Stand-in drivers, the drivers we mostly forget about though play sometimes a huge roll for teams. They are often at short notice in the car for most various reasons. During the covid pandemic, we have seen several stand-in drivers, well not really stand-in like Russell taking place in the Mercedes because of Hamilton or Kubica instead of Kimi. However, do you remember Johnny Herbert in 1989 who drove two races
You can’t imagine it now though there were years in the Formula One there were plenty of test drivers per team. Or teams tested in between races to test new aerodynamics or new engines. Or just to cash extra money by letting unknown drivers, who will never arrive, experience the Formula 1.As many of these drivers are long forgotten, and there isn’t a real overview of the test drivers, its
You can’t imagine it now though there were years in the Formula One there were plenty of test drivers per team. Or teams tested in between races to test new aerodynamics or new engines. Or just to cash extra money by letting unknown drivers, who will never arrive, experience the Formula 1.As many of these drivers are long forgotten, and there isn’t a real overview of the test drivers, its
2005 was the last year that privateers, the small teams, appeared on the grid. Minardi was the last team of an era were many tried their luck in the Formula One. Due the coming ban on turbo engines in 1989 and the restrictions, it was financially attractive for teams to try their luck. Most of them failed to even complete two season, some only did a few races before they
Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell dominated the Formula One in 1991 , which ended in favour of Ayrton Senna. 1991 was probably also the best season for the “smaller” teams such as Dallara, Brabham, Minardi, Lola and so on as they managed to score on regular base points. Eurobrunn and Onyx left the Formula One, while the Life went out of the Life Formula one team. On the other hand,
1989 seemed to be a perfect year for the small Italian team Osella Squadra Corse. Cosworth was supplying the team with engines, while Pirelli improved their qualifying and race tyres. Sadly, 1989 would prove to be the last year for the Osella team with Enzo Osella as team owner. At the end of the season the team was for sale, and believe it or not Piercarlo Ghinzani was interested to
