From bad car designs, to team or driver performance that lead to poor results and sanctioning bodies making new regulations that later destroyed a series is the point for this thread.
I know this also kind of applies to this website as a whole but I was feeling inspired after coming across this Reddit piece about the Osella FA1L from the 1988 F1 Season.
https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comme ... ry_of_f1s/
Failures of Motorsports - Car Designs, Team Mistakes and More
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Har1MAS1415
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Har1MAS1415
- Posts: 448
- Joined: 12 Sep 2021, 15:36
Re: Failures of Motorsports - Car Designs, Team Mistakes and More
Lotus Elise GT1
The Lotus Esprit had been a mainstay of the BPR Global GT Endurance Series since the category was launched in 1994. The best performances had been winning the GT3 Class at the Silverstone 4 Hours in 1995 and finishing 2nd outright at the same event in 1996.
When the category evolved into the FIA GT Championship for 1997, the ageing Esprit was replaced by the Elise. Six cars took part in the 1997 Season, three of which were powered by 6 Litre Chevrolet V8 engines originally designed for the Corvette and run by Lotus Racing (although the #15 car was taken over by the First Racing Project team after 1 race), two by GBF UK and using the less reliable Lotus V8 with a 3rd Lotus-powered car entered by Martin Veyhle Racing from Spa onwards. It would be one of the GBF entries that would secure the Elise's first finish (35th and last at Silverstone, talk about a happy hunting ground) and only points of the season with a 5th place at Helsinki, each time in the hands of Andrea Boldrini and Mauro Martini, although the latter result was largely thanks to a reduced field and race distance. The car finished no higher than 8th at Spa thereafter and by the end of the season, the Lotus Elise GT1 contingent was down to just two. Even in the Le Mans 24 Hour race, in which one of the Chevy-powered cars was entered (there were actually five Lotus Elise GT1s entered, according to racingsportscars.com, but two didn't turn up, one didn't pre-qualify and one didn't qualify), the Elise lasted only 1/3 distance before retiring. Lack of pace and reliability from the car and the engines that had powered it as well as expense and too much similarity to the production version of the Elise brought the curtain down on the project.
The story doesn't end there though as the Hezemans family bought two of the Chevy-powered Lotus Elise GT1s and reworked them into what became known as the Bitter GT1s in agreement with independent German car manufacturer Eric Bitter and now powered by Chrysler V10 engines as used in the Viper. The cars were entered in the 1998 FIA GT Championship, missing the opening round at Oschersleben and debuting at Silverstone. Once again, Silverstone would be where the car put in its best performance, albeit a double DNF after just over 1/5 distance, by which time, the Bitter GT1 had performed even worse than it had as a Lotus. Both cars turned up for the next round at Hockenheim but barely got to practice due to various problems, the gearbox being the most frequent so the cars were non-starters, the Bitter GT1's season ended there and then.
The final chapter of the story of the Lotus Elise GT1 came in the form of Team Elite buying one of the Chevy-powered cars and entering it in the LMP1 class at the 2004 Sebring 12 Hours. The car was slowest of the LMP1 runners in qualifying (we're talking 20 seconds off the pace of the Audi R8 LMP here) and lasted only 7 laps before the transmission failed and was the first retirement in its class. Plans to enter the car at Le Mans were cancelled and the Lotus Elise GT1 never raced again.
The Lotus Esprit had been a mainstay of the BPR Global GT Endurance Series since the category was launched in 1994. The best performances had been winning the GT3 Class at the Silverstone 4 Hours in 1995 and finishing 2nd outright at the same event in 1996.
When the category evolved into the FIA GT Championship for 1997, the ageing Esprit was replaced by the Elise. Six cars took part in the 1997 Season, three of which were powered by 6 Litre Chevrolet V8 engines originally designed for the Corvette and run by Lotus Racing (although the #15 car was taken over by the First Racing Project team after 1 race), two by GBF UK and using the less reliable Lotus V8 with a 3rd Lotus-powered car entered by Martin Veyhle Racing from Spa onwards. It would be one of the GBF entries that would secure the Elise's first finish (35th and last at Silverstone, talk about a happy hunting ground) and only points of the season with a 5th place at Helsinki, each time in the hands of Andrea Boldrini and Mauro Martini, although the latter result was largely thanks to a reduced field and race distance. The car finished no higher than 8th at Spa thereafter and by the end of the season, the Lotus Elise GT1 contingent was down to just two. Even in the Le Mans 24 Hour race, in which one of the Chevy-powered cars was entered (there were actually five Lotus Elise GT1s entered, according to racingsportscars.com, but two didn't turn up, one didn't pre-qualify and one didn't qualify), the Elise lasted only 1/3 distance before retiring. Lack of pace and reliability from the car and the engines that had powered it as well as expense and too much similarity to the production version of the Elise brought the curtain down on the project.
The story doesn't end there though as the Hezemans family bought two of the Chevy-powered Lotus Elise GT1s and reworked them into what became known as the Bitter GT1s in agreement with independent German car manufacturer Eric Bitter and now powered by Chrysler V10 engines as used in the Viper. The cars were entered in the 1998 FIA GT Championship, missing the opening round at Oschersleben and debuting at Silverstone. Once again, Silverstone would be where the car put in its best performance, albeit a double DNF after just over 1/5 distance, by which time, the Bitter GT1 had performed even worse than it had as a Lotus. Both cars turned up for the next round at Hockenheim but barely got to practice due to various problems, the gearbox being the most frequent so the cars were non-starters, the Bitter GT1's season ended there and then.
The final chapter of the story of the Lotus Elise GT1 came in the form of Team Elite buying one of the Chevy-powered cars and entering it in the LMP1 class at the 2004 Sebring 12 Hours. The car was slowest of the LMP1 runners in qualifying (we're talking 20 seconds off the pace of the Audi R8 LMP here) and lasted only 7 laps before the transmission failed and was the first retirement in its class. Plans to enter the car at Le Mans were cancelled and the Lotus Elise GT1 never raced again.
Re: Failures of Motorsports - Car Designs, Team Mistakes and More
Well, moving to something a bit older and perhaps more obscure, I would suggest the March 721X would be a good starter.
The 721X was an experimental design by Robin Herd - his reasoning, after hearing Ronnie Peterson praise the handling of a long wheelbase March 711, was to try and produce a car with the lowest possible polar moment of inertia. To that end, Herd concentrated as much of the mass of the car in as central a position as possible, going as far as having the standard Hewland FG gearbox replaced with an Alfa Romeo transverse gearbox and redesigning the rear suspension to fit over the top to accommodate the changes (with a series of levers being used to operate the springs).
Unfortunately, the handling of the car proved to be utterly terrible, with wildly inconsistent shifts in handling balance (blamed in part on the weight distribution of the car being utterly unsuited to the tyres that Goodyear was producing at the time). Now, Robin Herd does seem to be quick to shift blame to Alfa Romeo, claiming that it was their transmission that caused the problems (https://www.goodwood.com/grr/f1/how-nik ... gineering/), as well as the differential effectively constantly locking up.
However, Motorsport Magazine's contemporary report of the car at the Spanish GP in 1972 noted that one of the cars had part of the components replaced with March designed and built parts, and that the March built parts also didn't work particularly well (https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/arch ... -in-spain/), suggesting that Herd's design had more deeply rooted flaws.
Certainly, it seems that Lauda's opinion, when he first drove it, was that the car was complete rubbish and was based on a failed concept from start to finish (i.e. that Herd had to compromise so much of the rest of the car in pursuit of his goal of minimising the polar moment of inertia that the overall design was too flawed to be salvageable).
In the end, the car was abandoned after three races as a complete disaster that was beyond fixing, with the team having to crash build the 721G as a replacement (the G standing for "Guinness book of records" after it was designed and built in 9 days, mainly by using the March 722 Formula 2 car and components from the standard March 721 customer chassis). However, there was one positive that came out of it - it helped Lauda develop his technical knowledge considerably and helped Lauda build a reputation for being a technically skilled driver able to offer high quality feedback.
The 721X was an experimental design by Robin Herd - his reasoning, after hearing Ronnie Peterson praise the handling of a long wheelbase March 711, was to try and produce a car with the lowest possible polar moment of inertia. To that end, Herd concentrated as much of the mass of the car in as central a position as possible, going as far as having the standard Hewland FG gearbox replaced with an Alfa Romeo transverse gearbox and redesigning the rear suspension to fit over the top to accommodate the changes (with a series of levers being used to operate the springs).
Unfortunately, the handling of the car proved to be utterly terrible, with wildly inconsistent shifts in handling balance (blamed in part on the weight distribution of the car being utterly unsuited to the tyres that Goodyear was producing at the time). Now, Robin Herd does seem to be quick to shift blame to Alfa Romeo, claiming that it was their transmission that caused the problems (https://www.goodwood.com/grr/f1/how-nik ... gineering/), as well as the differential effectively constantly locking up.
However, Motorsport Magazine's contemporary report of the car at the Spanish GP in 1972 noted that one of the cars had part of the components replaced with March designed and built parts, and that the March built parts also didn't work particularly well (https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/arch ... -in-spain/), suggesting that Herd's design had more deeply rooted flaws.
Certainly, it seems that Lauda's opinion, when he first drove it, was that the car was complete rubbish and was based on a failed concept from start to finish (i.e. that Herd had to compromise so much of the rest of the car in pursuit of his goal of minimising the polar moment of inertia that the overall design was too flawed to be salvageable).
In the end, the car was abandoned after three races as a complete disaster that was beyond fixing, with the team having to crash build the 721G as a replacement (the G standing for "Guinness book of records" after it was designed and built in 9 days, mainly by using the March 722 Formula 2 car and components from the standard March 721 customer chassis). However, there was one positive that came out of it - it helped Lauda develop his technical knowledge considerably and helped Lauda build a reputation for being a technically skilled driver able to offer high quality feedback.
Martin Brundle, on watching a replay of Grosjean spinning:
"The problem with Grosjean is that he want to take a look back at the corner he's just exited"
"The problem with Grosjean is that he want to take a look back at the corner he's just exited"
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Har1MAS1415
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- Joined: 12 Sep 2021, 15:36
Re: Failures of Motorsports - Car Designs, Team Mistakes and More
The Monte Carlo 001-Cosworth
Or the Life L190 of International Formula 3000. In the hands of Fulvio Ballabio, the car's sole outing at Imola in the 1986 F3000 Season saw it not only fail to qualify but it was also bog last of the 36 entrants. Its fastest time? 3 minutes, 4.8 seconds! 1 minute, 25 seconds off the pace of the March of pole-sitter (and eventual Champion) Ivan Capelli, 1 minute, 11.5 seconds off the pace of the Dollop Racing Marches (i.e. a team that only made the F3000 grid once in two years of trying, and on this occasion, were slower than everyone else). The car is said to have suffered from gearbox problems but still, similar things could be said about the Life at the same circuit four years later! Not surprisingly, Ballabio and the Monte Carlo made no further appearances, though it has been said that the team's transporter crashed down a ravine and caught fire on the journey home from Imola, thus ruling out further appearances anyway.
Though having said all of the above, the car's performance (or lack thereof) can be explained by the stories behind it. For one, some stories claim it was originally intended to race in the 1985 F3000 Season so it was already a year old before its appearance at Imola. Also, the car had its origins in the unraced Dywa 010 F1 car, which was originally designed in 1983 (although some stories suggest it was 1980), which in turn, was the successor to the Dywa 008 that pulled out of the only race it ever entered after qualifying (The 1980 Gran Premio Della Lotteria at Monza) after Piercarlo Ghinzani's fastest time was 36.5 seconds off the pace of Emilio de Villota's RAM Racing Williams and nearly 21.5 seconds off the pace of a trio of Formula 2 Chevrons that were the next slowest qualifiers!
All in all, that's what you get for basing your car on a chassis that was already several years out of date but was also based on a car that was described as "a relic from an O-level metalwork class" and put together by a team that "lacked professionalism", according to their driver. After all, this is the same Piercarlo Ghinzani who felt it was better to be in F1 at the tail-end than not in F1 at all! To me, that's even worse than the "interesting flowerpot" that the FIRST F189 was described as before it was reborn as the Life L190!
Or the Life L190 of International Formula 3000. In the hands of Fulvio Ballabio, the car's sole outing at Imola in the 1986 F3000 Season saw it not only fail to qualify but it was also bog last of the 36 entrants. Its fastest time? 3 minutes, 4.8 seconds! 1 minute, 25 seconds off the pace of the March of pole-sitter (and eventual Champion) Ivan Capelli, 1 minute, 11.5 seconds off the pace of the Dollop Racing Marches (i.e. a team that only made the F3000 grid once in two years of trying, and on this occasion, were slower than everyone else). The car is said to have suffered from gearbox problems but still, similar things could be said about the Life at the same circuit four years later! Not surprisingly, Ballabio and the Monte Carlo made no further appearances, though it has been said that the team's transporter crashed down a ravine and caught fire on the journey home from Imola, thus ruling out further appearances anyway.
Though having said all of the above, the car's performance (or lack thereof) can be explained by the stories behind it. For one, some stories claim it was originally intended to race in the 1985 F3000 Season so it was already a year old before its appearance at Imola. Also, the car had its origins in the unraced Dywa 010 F1 car, which was originally designed in 1983 (although some stories suggest it was 1980), which in turn, was the successor to the Dywa 008 that pulled out of the only race it ever entered after qualifying (The 1980 Gran Premio Della Lotteria at Monza) after Piercarlo Ghinzani's fastest time was 36.5 seconds off the pace of Emilio de Villota's RAM Racing Williams and nearly 21.5 seconds off the pace of a trio of Formula 2 Chevrons that were the next slowest qualifiers!
All in all, that's what you get for basing your car on a chassis that was already several years out of date but was also based on a car that was described as "a relic from an O-level metalwork class" and put together by a team that "lacked professionalism", according to their driver. After all, this is the same Piercarlo Ghinzani who felt it was better to be in F1 at the tail-end than not in F1 at all! To me, that's even worse than the "interesting flowerpot" that the FIRST F189 was described as before it was reborn as the Life L190!
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Har1MAS1415
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Re: Failures of Motorsports - Car Designs, Team Mistakes and More
Can we class Team HARD in this category now that they have folded? After all, only 1 win in over a decade of trying when in that time, teams that entered after them have won titles (BMR, entered in 2013, won in 2017 with Ash Sutton and the Subaru. Laser Tools, entered in 2014, won in 2020 and 2021 with Sutton and the Infiniti. Excelr8, entered in 2019, won in 2022 with Tom Ingram and the Hyundai.)
Running 6 cars all at once in 2023 was never likely to be a good idea anyway.
Running 6 cars all at once in 2023 was never likely to be a good idea anyway.
Re: Failures of Motorsports - Car Designs, Team Mistakes and More
For me, MasterCard Lola was the biggest failure in F1 history.
Re: Failures of Motorsports - Car Designs, Team Mistakes and More
Really? More so than Andrea Moda or Life? How so?
watka wrote:I find it amusing that whilst you're one of the more openly Christian guys here, you are still first and foremost associated with an eye for the ladies!
MCard LOLAdinizintheoven wrote:GOOD CHRISTIANS do not go to jail. EVERYONE ON FORMULA ONE REJECTS should be in jail.
Re: Failures of Motorsports - Car Designs, Team Mistakes and More
As per my knowledge, MasterCard Lola only competed in one race. On the other hand, Andrea Moda and Life were able to compete in multiple races.
Re: Failures of Motorsports - Car Designs, Team Mistakes and More
Re: Failures of Motorsports - Car Designs, Team Mistakes and More
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Har1MAS1415
- Posts: 448
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Re: Failures of Motorsports - Car Designs, Team Mistakes and More
They're not dead yet but they have sensibly downsized to 2 cars for 2024.Har1MAS1415 wrote: ↑16 Dec 2023, 18:02 Can we class Team HARD in this category now that they have folded? After all, only 1 win in over a decade of trying when in that time, teams that entered after them have won titles (BMR, entered in 2013, won in 2017 with Ash Sutton and the Subaru. Laser Tools, entered in 2014, won in 2020 and 2021 with Sutton and the Infiniti. Excelr8, entered in 2019, won in 2022 with Tom Ingram and the Hyundai.)
Running 6 cars all at once in 2023 was never likely to be a good idea anyway.