Money woes, dire displays and a paddock arrest - 10 F1 teams who failed horribly

We’ve taken a look back at some infamous examples of teams who came and then vanished just as quickly…
Money woes, dire displays and a paddock arrest - 10 F1 teams who failed horribly

Not every team that enters Formula 1 is able to make a success of it. Here's a few teams who wereꦫ gone, shortly after arriving...

Virgin/Marussia/Manor (2010-2016) 

Virgin Racing were one of the three teams that entered F1 in 2010, and the onಞe who lasted the longest. 

Like rival newcomers Lotus, V🌳irgin went through various changes in ownership and guises after initially being launched𝔉 by Richard Branson. 

The team was woefully uncompetitive initially but Ferrari junior 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Jules Bianchi proved to be a shining light in 2014, and a brilliant drive helped the then Marussia outfit secure t꧋heir first points i𝄹n Monaco. 

Money woes, dire displays and a paddock arrest - 10 F1 teams who failed horribly

But Bianchi suffered serious injuries in a🅷 crash at the Japanese Grand Prix, from which he tragically died nine months later. Marussia ran a single car at the next race in Russia but failed𝔉 to complete the rest of the season amid deepening financial woes. 

The team was renamed Manor for 2015 after being rescued by Ovo energy boss Stephen Fitzpatrick. A further point was scored by 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Pascal Wehrlein in 2016 but it was not enough to𝓰 beat Sauber in the championship, costing the team £30m in prize money. Ma🧸nor collapsed in early 2017. 

Lotus Racing/Team Lotus/Caterham (2010-2014)

AirAsia founder Tony Fernandes acquired the rights to the Team Lotus name, which the team raced under, despite having no links to Colin Chapman’s famous F1 squad.&𓆉nbsp;

An experienced driver line-up of 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Heikki Kovalainen and168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: Jarno Trulli helped Lotus beat fellow new entrants Virgin and HRT to 10th place in the constructors’ championship i✨n their first season. 

Money woes, dire displays and a paddock arrest - 10 F1 teams who failed horribly

Following a rebrand to Caterham in 2012, the team slipped to 11th in the championship in 2013 and 2014 des♕pite refreshing their driver line-up and taking on new owners. 

The slump hit Caterham hard financially and the team entered administration. After being forced to skip two races, Caterham returned to the grid at t🐼he season finale in Abu Dhabi thanks to a crowdfunding effort, before disappearing for good. 

HRT (2010-2012) 

The first Spanish team to race in F1, HRT spent t💞hree seasons struggling towards the back of the grid and failed to score any points. 

A raft of drivers - including the likes of 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Bruno Senna, and 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Daniel Ricciardo - came and went, while there were several changes of ownership, but the team wﷺere never able to shake off the unwanted tag of ‘backmarkers’. 

H🐻RT ultimately went bankrupt at the end of 2012 after a bid to find a buyer failed.  

Money woes, dire displays and a paddock arrest - 10 F1 teams who failed horribly

USF1 (2010) 

Team 🅘US F1, o🐎therwise known as USF1, didn’t even make it onto the F1 grid. 

The proposed team was granted enꦰtry to the 2010 season after being fronted by Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor, but their dreams 🍰of creating an American grand prix team ended before they truly got going. 

Jose Maria Lopez and James Ross📖iter were even signed as the team’s drivers, but having struggled to get a car ready for the start of the season aꦑmid economic and funding challenges, the outfit closed down.

Super Aguri (2006-2008) 

Super Aguri, founded by Aguri Suzuki, acted as an unofficial Honda B☂ team during their short life-span as an F1 team for less than three seasons. 

The team recorded a total of four points across 39 races, all of which were scored by 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Takuma Sato during the 2007 season. 

Money troubles ultimately caused Super Aguri’s demise, with the team collapsing four races into 2008. The 🌞factory Honda squad followed suit at the end of the year due to the global f𒁏inancial crisis. 

Money woes, dire displays and a paddock arrest - 10 F1 teams who failed horribly

Lola (1997) 

A full-fledged Lola team, backed by titl💟e sponsor Mastercard, had a brief and very unsuccessful F1 stint. 

The Lola T97/30 chassis was based on In𒀰dyCar techꦑnology, built without a windtunnel and had next to no on-track tests after the design of the engine fell behind schedule. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Lola failed to qualify for the first race of the season in Australia within the 107% rule, ending up an embarrassing 11 seconds off pꦿole position. 

After running into financial and technical problems, an immediate exit from 🍸the sport followed. 

Forti Corse (1995-1996) 

Money woes, dire displays and a paddock arrest - 10 F1 teams who failed horribly

Success in Formula 3000 and Italian Formula 3 prompted Guido Forti to bring his team into F1, with support from Pedro Diniz’s spo𓃲nsor Parmalat. 

Forti’s FG01 was described as “a r🐷evised F3000 car” and proved outdated, overweight and well off the pace. Hopes of an improveღd 1996 campaign were dashed when Diniz signed for Ligier and took his sponsors with him. 

The team’s budget was decimate♉d and Forti did not survive the season, folding halfway through 1996.&nb꧙sp;

Simtek (1994-1995) 

One of two new entries for 1994, Simtek’s debut season was immediately overshadowed by trageꦫdy on F1’s darkest weekend when Roland Ratzenberger suffered fatal injuries in a high-speed cra🍃sh during qualifying for the third round of the season at Imola. 

Brighter times appeared to lay ahead following the arrival of Jos Verstappen on loan from Benetton in 1995, but the te🌌am lasted just five into the new season before collapsing. 

Money woes, dire displays and a paddock arrest - 10 F1 teams who failed horribly

Potential backing was pulled by Japanese companies following the Koღbe earthquake. Simtek subsequently went into voluntary liquidation and were forced to declare bankruptcy. 

Pacific (1994-1995) 

After winning every junior categoryﷺ they had participated in, UK-based Pacific Racing hit the big time when they entered F1 in 1994 as the renamed Pacific ♐Grand Prix. 

However, the success in lower formulas did not translate into F1. Their first season was a total disaster, with the team failing to score a point or even fini𝔉sh a single race. 

A collaboration with Teaꩲm Lotus for the following season barely improved the outlook, and after relying heavily on a series of pay drivers, Pacific withdrew from F1 at the end of the year due to financial struggles. 

Andrea Moda (1992) 

Money woes, dire displays and a paddock arrest - 10 F1 teams who failed horribly

Founded by Italian shoe🌠 designer Andrea Sassetti, Andrea Moda participated in nine world championship grands prix in 1992. 

The t🍎eam qualified to start on one occasion, only for Roberto Moreno to retire just 11 laps into the Monaco Grand Prix with engine failure. 

A combination of disorganisation and lack of budget left tꦡhe🔯 team in disarray amid several sponsor withdrawals. Sassetti was arrested in the paddock for allegedly forging invoices, leading to his and his team’s eventual expulsion by the FIA.

Read More