Country of Origin: Great Britain
Year of Foundation: 1977
Active Years in F1: 1978-
Drivers Championships: -
Constructor's Cups: 0
Current Drivers: Jos Verstappen,
Pedro de la Rosa
Current Model: A21
Car Numbers: 14, 15
Primary Sponsor: Orange |
Arrows was formed over 20 years ago, but has yet to score a Grand Prix win. Ironically, its second race, the South African Grand Prix of 1978, is the nearest it has come. Emerging Italian Riccardo Patrese led convincingly until his engine died.
Arrows was established in controversial circumstances when key members of the Shadow team broke away. These members gave the Arrows team its name:
- A: Shadow Sponsor Franco Ambrosia
- R: (As above)
- R: Financial Director Alan Rees
- O: Former Driver and current Manager Jackie Oliver
- W: Designer Dave Wass
- S: Designer Tony Southgate
Swede Gunnar Nilsson was to lead the team, but died from stomach cancer only a year later. Arrows opted for Patrese who, in his early days, was quick but wild.
A bad start
Even before their first car got on the track, the Arrows were in trouble when a high court ruled that their car was too similar to the new Shadow design and told that they could not race it. A replacement car was built in double quick time and they managed to start their first race of the 1978 season. Then, in the Italian Grand Prix, Ronnie Peterson was killed after his Lotus was involved in a multiple car starting line accident for which Patrese was held responsible and was subsequently banned from the US Grand Prix.
The 80's
As racing developed in the 1980s, it became increasingly important to have links with engine manufacturers to cope with turbo-charged engines from BMW, Renault and Ferrari. When BMW pulled out officially its powerful 4 cylinder engines were re-named Megatrons and were used to good effects by Arrows. But still the elusive first win did not come.
As the 1980s drew to a close, the Japanese Footwork corporation struck a deal with Jackie Oliver and the team was re-named Footwork. Things were looking up when a deal for Porsche engines was signed. However when Porsche released their new 12 cylinder engine it was found to weigh over 60 kilos more than a conventional unit!
The Porsche association came to a rapid end but Footwork soldiered on with Japanese Mugen engines and Aguri Suzuki alongside Michele Alboreto, then Derek Warwick.
New Assosiations
For 1994, designer Alan Jenkins designed the neat FA15 chassis for a customer Ford engine, with some tricky rear-end aerodynamics. But rapidly introduced regulations after the infamous Imola weekend spoiled the cars, which were driven by Christian Fittipaldi and Gianni Morbidelli. Footwork subsequently reduced their involvement and the team reverted to being Arrows Grand Prix International.
An unspectacular 1996 season ended with the arrival of Tom Walkinshaw as team owner, whose signings for 1997 included Damon Hill, Bridgestone tyres and works Yamaha engines. But the year proved a disappointment except for Hill's second place in Hungary. 1998 was a similarly low-key season with no significant results for Mika Salo or Pedro Diniz.
The 1999 Season
1999 started well for the team with rookie, Pedro de la Rosa finishing in 6th place at Melbourne, but the season went gradually downhill from there on, constantly fighting with Minardi for the last four places on the grid. By the end of the season however, it was at the point of Minardi actually being better than Arrows with places on the grid between 16 and 20, whereas, the Arrows were consistantly achieving 21st and 22nd places. Things are looking up slightly this season though, with the Supertech engines and the strong backing of Orange has given the team much needed financial assistance.
|
