A potted history of the Arrows F1 Team


The 2002 A23

By Huw Alban
April 30 2002

The Arrows Racing Team was founded in 1977, and based in Milton Keynes, in the UK. They made their F1 début at the Brazilian GP in 1978, and finished their first season with 9th position in the Constructors Championship. Not bad for a new team.

See below for a quick summary of Arrows’ progress since their first race in 1978.

1978:

Chassis - FA1 / A1; Engine - Cosworth V8 DFV; Drivers - Riccardo Patrese & Rolf Stommelen (& Gunnar Nilsson)
Constructors Championship position - 9th equal
Riccardo Patrese achieves a best finish of 2nd in Sweden
1979: Chassis - A1 / A2; Engine - Cosworth V8 DFV; Drivers - Riccardo Patrese & Jochen Mass
Constructors Championship position - 9th
1980: Chassis - A3; Engine - Cosworth V8 DFV; Drivers - Riccardo Patrese / Jochen Mass / Mike Thackwell / Manfred Winkelhock
Constructors Championship position - 7th equal
Riccardo Patrese achieves a best finish of 2nd in the United States GP West, and takes fastest lap in Monaco
1981: Chassis - A3; Engine - Cosworth V8 DFV; Drivers - Riccardo Patrese / Siegfried Stohr / Jacques Villeneuve
Constructors Championship position - 8th equal
Riccardo Patrese achieves a best finish of 2nd in San Marino, as well as 3rd in Brazil. He also sets pole position for the United States GP West
1982: Chassis - A4 / A5; Engine - Cosworth V8 DFV; Drivers - Brian Henton / Marc Surer / Mauro Baldi (& Patrick Tambay)
Constructors Championship position - 10th
1983:

Chassis - A6; Engine - Cosworth V8 DFV; Drivers - Marc Surer / Chico Serra / Alan Jones / Thierry Boutsen

Constructors Championship position - 10th
1984: Chassis - A6 / A7; Engine - Cosworth V8 DFV / BMW 4 t/c; Drivers - Marc Surer & Thierry Boutsen
Constructors Championship position - 9th
1985: Chassis - A8; Engine - BMW 4 t/c; Drivers - Thierry Boutsen & Gerhard Berger
Constructors Championship position - 8th
Thierry Boutsen achieves a best finish of 2nd in San Marino
1986: Chassis - A8 / A9; Engine - BMW 4 t/c; Drivers - Thierry Boutsen / Marc Surer / Christian Danner
Constructors Championship position - 10th

Designer Dave Wass leaves Arrows and is replaced by Ross Brawn
1987:

Chassis - A10; Engine - Megatron 4 t/c; Drivers - Derek Warwick & Eddie Cheever
Constructors Championship position - 6th
1988: Chassis - A10B / A11; Engine - Megatron 4 t/c; Drivers - Derek Warwick & Eddie Cheever
Constructors Championship position - 4th equal
Derek Warwick achieves 7th equal in the Drivers Championship. Arrows finish 3rd and 4th at Monza, with Cheever heading Warwick
1989: Chassis - A11; Engine - Cosworth V8 DFZ; Drivers - Derek Warwick / Eddie Cheever / Martin Donnelly
Constructors Championship position - 7th
Arrows F1 Technical Centre opens in Milton Keynes and the team is bought by Wataru Ohashi’s Footwork Corp. in November. Eddie Cheever achieves a best finish of 3rd in the United States
1990: Chassis - A11 / A11B; Engine - Cosworth V8 DFR; Drivers - Michele Alboreto / Bernd Schneider / Alex Caffi
Constructors Championship position - 9th equal
Ross Brawn is replaced by James Robinson, and Alan Jenkins is appointed Technical Director
1991: Chassis - Footwork A11C / Footwork FA12; Engine - Porsche V12 / Cosworth V8 DFR Hart; Drivers - Michele Alboreto / Alex Caffi / Stefan Johansson
Constructors Championship position - no points
Porsche engine replaced by Hart DFR V8 in June and 0.4 scale wind tunnel opens at the Arrows Technical Centre
1992: Chassis - Footwork FA13; Engine - Mugen Honda V10; Drivers - Michele Alboreto & Aguri Suzuki

Constructors Championship position - 7th equal
1993:

Chassis - Footwork FA13B / Footwork FA14; Engine - Mugen Honda V10; Drivers - Derek Warwick & Aguri Suzuki

Constructors Championship position - 9th
1994:

Chassis - Footwork FA15; Engine - Ford HB V8; Drivers - Christian Fittipaldi & Gianni Morbidelli
Constructors Championship position - 9th
Original owners Jackie Oliver and Alan Rees take over the running of the team under the former name Arrows Grand Prix International Limited
1995: Chassis - Footwork FA16; Engine - Hart V8; Drivers - Gianni Morbidelli / Taki Inoue / Max Papis
Constructors Championship position - 8th equal

Jackie Oliver and Alan Rees regain ownership of the team. Gianni Morbidelli achieves a best finish of 3rd in Australia
1996:

Chassis - Footwork FA17; Engine - Hart V8; Drivers - Ricardo Rosset & Jos Verstappen
Constructors Championship position - 9th

Car livery remains white/blue/red until Tom Walkinshaw takes control of the team, and moves it to TWR Headquarters in Oxfordshire. Livery then changes to predominantly red.
1997: Chassis - A18; Engine - Yamaha V10; Drivers - Damon Hill & Pedro Diniz
Constructors Championship position - 8th
Car livery changes to blue/white. Damon Hill achieves a best finish of 2nd in Hungary, with Pedro Diniz 5th in Luxembourg. John Barnard appointed as Technical Director
1998: Chassis - A19; Engine - Arrows V10; Drivers - Mika Salo & Pedro Diniz

Constructors Championship position - 7th

Car livery changes to black with white. Mika Salo achieves a best finish of 4th in Monaco, Pedro Diniz 5th in Belgium
1999: Chassis - A20; Engine - Arrows V10; Drivers - Pedro de la Rosa & Toranosuke Takagi
Constructors Championship position - 9th
Car livery changes to black/orange.
2000: Chassis - A21; Engine - Supertec V10; Drivers - Pedro de la Rosa & Jos Verstappen
Constructors Championship position - 7th
Car livery changes with the introduction of Orange as title sponsor. Increased investment sees a sharp increase in performance and in a public vote the team is named ‘the Most Improved Team of the year 2000’.
2001: Chassis - A22; Engine - Asiatech V10; Drivers - Jos Verstappen & Enrique Bernoldi
Constructors Championship position - 10th
2002: Chassis - A23; Engine - Cosworth CR3 V10; Drivers - Heinz-Harald Frentzen & Enrique Bernoldi
Constructors Championship position - 11th
The team fails to compete in the last five races of the season, and at the French Grand Prix due to money troubles. As the season closed a last ditch effort to sell the team to an American investor appeared to fall through. The team entered the winter with creditor court cases lining up, and a very uncertain future.

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