Andrea Moda Formula

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Andrea Moda
Andrea moda.gif
Surname Andrea Moda Formula
Companies Andrea Moda Formula
Company headquarters Ancona , Italy
Team boss ItalyItaly Andrea Sassetti
statistics
First Grand Prix Monaco 1992
Last Grand Prix Monaco 1992
Race driven 1
Constructors' championship -
Drivers World Championship -
Race wins 0
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
Points 0

Andrea Moda Formula was an Italian motorsport team that competed in 10 of the 16 Grand Prix of the 1992 Formula 1 season . There was only one race participation that ended without reaching the finish line. The racing team built on the former Formula 1 team Coloni .

Andrea Moda's story is characterized by organizational and financial deficiencies, a lack of sporting success and scandals, which culminated in the arrest of the team boss and led to the team being the only racing team in Formula 1 history to be excluded from the world championship twice within a year.

Team history overview

The "King of the Unqualified" is taken over

Andrea Moda Formula had its roots in the Italian racing team Coloni, which had participated in 14 Formula 1 races from 1987 to 1991 . The Coloni team, which is financially and technically very weak, was the "mockery of Formula 1" for the press in 1991 and was considered the "king of the unqualified" after it had not been allowed to compete in any World Championship run for two and a half years. From summer 1991 Coloni faced insolvency. After the unsuccessful attempt to merge with the Modena team ("Lambo Formula") , which was also underperforming and indirectly related to Lamborghini , the team founder Enzo Coloni sold his highly indebted racing team in September 1991 for allegedly US $ 8 million to the 31 Year old Italian entrepreneur Andrea Sassetti , who worked primarily in the fashion industry. For the last two races in 1991, the team was still under the old name Coloni Racing; from 1992 onwards, Sassetti reported the racing team as Andrea Moda Formula.

There were and are numerous speculations about Andrea Sassetti's motivation to take part in Formula 1. Most sources deny that Sassetti had a serious interest in motorsport. Some see Andrea Moda Formula as the - unsuccessful - attempt, based on the development of Benettons, to use the publicity of motorsport for advertising purposes for their fashion company, others consider it not impossible that the Formula 1 involvement served the purpose of money laundering.

Andrea Moda = Coloni?

Coloni Racing: Identical or not identical to Andrea Moda Formula?

The Andrea Moda team's position under sports law was controversial at the beginning of the 1992 season and resulted in the first of two exclusions of the racing team from the world championship.

The starting point of this dispute was the question of whether Andrea Moda Formula was identical to the previous Coloni Racing team or whether it was a new racing team from a sports law perspective. For new teams, the regulations of the FISA Sports Authority contained a number of restrictions and requirements. This included the obligation to deposit a security fee ("deposit") of US $ 100,000 before the first race; In addition, a new team was not allowed to report a chassis that had previously been used by another racing team.

Team boss Andrea Sassetti claimed that his racing team should be seen as the successor to Coloni Racing in every respect, so that he was allowed to use his car (s) and did not have to provide any security. FISA, on the other hand, believed that Andrea Moda Formula was a new team. She based her view on the fact that Andrea Sassetti had only bought racing cars and technical accessories from Coloni Racing in the fall of 1991, but not his entry authorization for the Formula 1 World Championship ("entry").

Andrea Moda Formula did not meet the requirements for a new team at the start of the season: On the one hand, Sassetti had not provided any security, on the other hand, he had registered the Coloni C4B for his team at the first race of the season for his team , a car that is technically similar under the designation C4 Equipment had already been used by Coloni in the previous year. The fact that the C4 did not actually contest a single race in 1991 due to a lack of success in the pre-qualification did not change the FISA's view of the irregularity of its (renewed) report.

Two exclusions

Since the dispute over the position of the team in the run-up to the Grand Prix of South Africa in 1992 could not be resolved, the FISA excluded Andrea Moda Formula before the start of the pre-qualification in Kyalami on February 28, 1992 from participation in the World Cup. The team boss then initially stated that he wanted to close the racing stable immediately. In the following weeks, however, an agreement was reached between Sassetti and the sports supervisory authority. After paying the security fee, Andrea Moda Formula was admitted to the other races of the world championship. The condition was that the team started with a new, previously unregistered racing car. This led to the construction of the Andrea Moda S921 , which replaced the old Coloni C4B in spring 1992. The team's absence from the South African Grand Prix and the subsequent race in Mexico was qualified as force majeure and therefore had no consequences for the team.

In the months that followed, Andrea Moda entered nine Grand Prix events, but only qualified for one race. From March to September 1992 there were not only sporting failures but also sensational incidents, including the loss of engines, fights among team members and the arrest of the team boss. As a result, the FISA Andrea Moda Formula excluded from the World Championship for the second time in September 1992. The decision was based on Art. 166 of the regulations. After that, a team could be excluded from the world championship "if it does not meet the standards of Formula 1 or brings it into disrepute". FISA saw these requirements as fulfilled by Andrea Moda Formula. The Sports Inspectorate has never referred to Art. 166 before and has not invoked it since.

staff

management

Team boss

Andrea Moda Formula was owned by Andrea Sassetti, an entrepreneur who was born in 1960 in the Marche region of central Italy and who has been running the Andrea Moda shoe and boot brand named after him since 1985 . There are different details about his biography, some of which differ greatly from one another. Some sources saw him as a member of a wealthy family of shoe manufacturers, while others said he had made his fortune by winning a large poker game . Still others suspect that Sassetti was doing illegal business and had links with organized crime. There are reports that Sassetti and team members were involved in several armed conflicts during 1992. A transcript of an interview that Sassetti is said to have given by telephone in spring 2012 is circulating on the Internet and contains biographical details and details on the development of Andrea Moda Formula. After that, Andrea Sassetti is the son of poor farmers who, building on a small profit from gambling, became wealthy through his own work.

When Sassetti took over the Coloni team in September 1991, he had no experience in motorsport. The team's reporting picked up on this fact early on and emphasized this through repeated and sometimes very striking descriptions of Sassetti's other activities. Terms such as “shoe magnate”, “boss of a shoe industry” or “Italian king of prêt-à-porter ” were and are still regularly used in depictions of the racing team. As the season and distance continued, the characterizations also took on derogatory traits. He was described as a “dilettante” or “shady person”. In retrospect, his pilot Alex Caffi even called him “crazy”.

technical director

The technical director was the American engineer Paul Burgess . His Formula 1 experience was limited to a year and a half at Coloni. In 1990 he was employed in this role by Subaru , Coloni's engine partner at the time. Burgess supervised the construction of the C4B and S921 models at Andrea Moda and looked after the cars on race weekends as a race engineer until summer 1992.

Team manager

According to the original agreement, Enzo Coloni was to lead the day-to-day business of the racing team and the sporting activities in 1992. However, Coloni was sacked by Sassetti in December 1991. The sporting director was finally the Frenchman Frédéric Dhainhaut , who came into Formula 1 in 1986 with the Provençal racing team AGS and who later organized the races for Coloni (1989) and Larrousse (1990). The change to Andrea Moda Formula took place in May 1992; it was suggested by Bernie Ecclestone , who wanted to give the Italian team an experienced organizer. Dhainhaut left the team in June 1992; he felt that Sassetti and the mechanics were not following his instructions on the circuit. His successor was the Italian Sergio Zago.

The driver

Andrea Moda competed with four drivers in 1992: Enrico Bertaggia , Alex Caffi, Roberto Moreno and Perry McCarthy .

Initially, Sassetti tried to get Christian Danner and Gregor Foitek . Foitek turned down the offer after what he saw as a sobering factory visit in January 1992, while Danner's commitment failed because he was unable to find sponsors for the team.

Enrico Bertaggia and Alex Caffi

Instead, Sassetti awarded one of the cockpits at the start of the season to Enrico Bertaggia, who had been entered for six Grand Prizes by Coloni in 1989 and was the slowest driver of the pre-qualification at every attempt. His teammate was Alex Caffi for the first races of the year, who had scored a total of six world championship points in 1989 and 1990. Caffi saw his involvement with Andrea Moda Formula after health problems and sporting failures in the preseason as an opportunity for a fresh start in Formula 1.

Bertaggia and Caffi were entered for the first two Grand Prix of the year, but did not take part in any races. After Bertaggia and Caffi publicly expressed their dissatisfaction with the state of the team at the Mexican Grand Prix at the end of March 1992, which had surprisingly withdrawn its registration for this race, they were dismissed by Sassetti. Caffi took the disappointing experience with Andrea Sassetti, “a madman who had ruined everything”, as an opportunity to end his Formula 1 career; Bertaggia never drove a Formula 1 car again.

Roberto Moreno

Sassetti signed the Brazilian Roberto Moreno as the successor of Caffi for the time from the Brazilian Grand Prix . Moreno was considered a “man for hopeless cases” who, after years with Coloni, AGS and EuroBrun, had experience with small, financially weak teams. In 1991 he was under contract with Benetton for the first time with a high-performance team, but was replaced by the newcomer Michael Schumacher before the end of the season after scoring eight world championship points .

Perry McCarthy

"Formula 1 the hard way" at Andrea Moda: Perry McCarthy

The second driver, whom Sassetti signed to replace Bertaggia, played a special role in the team. At the end of March 1992, at the mediation of Nigel Mansell's manager , Sassetti decided at short notice to hire the British racing driver Perry McCarthy, who, unlike Moreno, had no Formula 1 and little Formula 3000 experience. McCarthy did not receive any salary from Andrea Moda and had to pay for all travel and accommodation costs himself. “Due to a misunderstanding”, the FISA in Brazil initially refused him the super license . After an intervention by Bernie Ecclestone, he got his driving license back for the following race, the Spanish Grand Prix .

From April 1992 Sassetti tried to report Enrico Bertaggia in McCarthy's place, who had meanwhile found new sponsors. The talk was of funds amounting to US $ 1,000,000. However, since Andrea Moda had already carried out the maximum number of driver changes with the engagement of Moreno and McCarthy, FISA did not allow another driver change. McCarthy then became the “unloved child of the team”: Sassetti saw him as the main reason why the team had to forego Bertaggia's sponsorship money. In the following years, Sassetti consistently disadvantaged him, so that McCarthy could hardly put back timed laps and got no realistic chance for a (pre) qualification. He tried to get McCarthy to resign by letting him drive as infrequently as possible or just providing him with outdated or unsafe material. McCarthy, for his part, stuck to the contract as he had no alternative in Formula 1. A planned assignment as a test driver at Arrows did not materialize because Sassetti McCarthy did not give clearance. In the interview allegedly conducted with him in 2012, Andrea Sassetti confirmed the fundamental disadvantage of McCarthy, but insisted that McCarthy had known the team's situation from the start: McCarthy had known that Andrea Moda was not able to use two vehicles at the same time ; Nevertheless, he remained in the team in order to be present in Formula 1 at all.

McCarthy processed his experiences with Andrea Moda in 2002 in an autobiography, which he subtitled "Formula 1 the hard way" ("Formula One the hard way").

resources

Technical Equipment

At the beginning of the season, Andrea Moda Formula was still in Enzo Coloni's workshop in Passignano sul Trasimeno in Umbria . In March 1992, Sassetti relocated the racing team to his home region of Marken. Most publications give the city of Ancona as the seat of the team ; a single source, however, names the village of Trodica, 50 km from Ancona and belonging to the municipality of Morrovalle, as the location. There was also a workshop where Andrea Moda boots and shoes were made. The headquarters of the racing team was housed in a warehouse. During his only visit in June 1992, Perry McCarthy felt "more like a criminal hideout than a Formula 1 headquarters".

The team used the material from Enzo Coloni's former Formula 1 racing team. According to observers, Sassetti invested little or nothing in upgrading the equipment, the level of which was described as amateur. Gregor Foitek, who visited Andrea Moda's workshop in January 1992, came to the conclusion that the team's infrastructure "is so bad that it is not worth being associated with Formula 1." all of the material needed to get two racing cars ready for use at the same time. The mechanics had to repeatedly borrow equipment and tools from other racing teams. Sassetti recruited the team's staff - mechanics and truck drivers - from among others from the craftsmen in his shoe factory.

The cars

In December 1991 Andrea Moda Formula appeared for the first time with the technically unchanged Coloni C4 at a competition in Bologna that was not related to the World Championship. The car was then converted to the C4B using new drive components. After the rejection of this model by the FISA in February 1992, the technically independent Andrea Moda S921 was created , with which the team competed in a total of nine Grand Prix.

Coloni C4B

Coloni C4B-Judd in the livery of the 1992 South African Grand Prix

The C4B was based on the Coloni C3 , which had been designed in the spring of 1989 by Christian Vanderpleyn for use with a Cosworth DFR engine. At the beginning of 1990 Coloni had converted one of the two chassis to a Subaru twelve-cylinder; the second chassis appeared in the late summer of 1990 after a slight revision as Coloni C3C again with Cosworth engine. Coloni had this chassis again slightly modified for the 1991 season by students at the University of Perugia as part of a study project. It became the C4, with which Pedro Chaves did not qualify for any race in 1991.

For the 1992 season, Sassetti wanted to bring the now two and a half year old chassis to the start with a new drive unit. He acquired two used ten-cylinder engines from Judd (type GV), which had been used by Scuderia Italia in the Dallara 191 the year before , as well as the rear axle and probably also the six-speed gearbox of the Dallara. Supervised by Paul Burgess, students from the University of Perugia assembled the old chassis and the new drive unit in the first few weeks of 1992. At the beginning of February 1992 a test drive of the C4B took place, which according to Alex Caffi was very promising.

Sassetti reported the C4B at the beginning of the 1992 season for Alex Caffi and for Enrico Bertaggia. It is doubtful whether a vehicle was actually made for each driver, because the Coloni C4, on which the C4B was based, was a one-off. In South Africa, the team only showed up with a race-ready car. A single source reports that the Kyalami team also had a second, incomplete chassis in the pits. There are no illustrations to confirm this. In all contemporary publications, only one vehicle of the type C4B - and the same in each case - was shown on a regular basis .

It is unclear whether Andrea Moda initially planned to contest the entire 1992 season with the C4B. Individual contemporary sources described the C4B as a mere interim car even before the start of the season, which was about to be replaced by a newer design, while others assume that Sassetti only tried to find a successor after the team was excluded in Kyalami.

Andrea Moda S921

Based on a Simtek construction: Andrea Moda S921
Designer of the S921: Nick Wirth

After the team was excluded and the Coloni C4B was rejected at the end of February 1992, Andrea Moda Formula had to bring a car to the start for subsequent races that had not yet been reported by another team. Due to a lack of time and resources, the team was unable to build their own car. At the beginning of March 1992, Max Mosley , who had been President of FISA for a year , made contact with the British design office Simtek , of which he was co-owner. In 1990, Simtek had designed a Formula 1 car on behalf of the German car manufacturer BMW , which at the time was considering entering into Grand Prix racing at the factory. The Simtek cars should be a first step for BMW to get to know the Formula 1 environment better. In 1991 BMW gave up the Formula 1 project. Simtek saw in Andrea Moda Formula an opportunity to use the chassis remaining in the factory as intended.

The chassis was completed in March 1992 under great time pressure at Simtek. Some of Andrea Moda's mechanics were working on it; In addition, there were numerous mechanics from other Formula 1 teams who earned extra income here. The car was finally presented to the public in early April 1992.

Two copies of the S921 were made (S921 / 1 and S 921/2); the initially planned construction of a third car was not realized due to lack of money. In fact, the two cars were never operational at the same time. The team did not have enough parts over the course of the season to make both the S921 / 1 and S921 / 2 race-ready. In fact, the S921 / 2 served as a reserve vehicle and parts carrier for the S921 / 1. Before the S921 / 2 was sent out, the mechanics had to remove various components from the S921 / 1 and install them in the S921 / 2. In one case this concerned the steering column, in another case parts of the wheel suspension. At times the S921 / 2 was equipped with parts that had been sorted out due to a defect in the S921 / 1.

The Andrea Moda S921 is technically closely related to the Simtek S941 , which was launched in the 1994 season . Roland Ratzenberger died in that car during the final training for the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix .

Races

Bologna Sprint

The Coloni-Andrea Moda Formula team's first race was in December 1991. One month after the last World Championship run of the 1991 season in Australia , the team appeared at the Bologna Sprint , a competition held in an enclosed hall as part of the annual Bologna Motor Show . Here six drivers competed against each other in mostly Italian cars in short sprint races. Apart from the black paintwork and the sponsor stickers, the car technically corresponded to the C4 previously used by Coloni. It was still equipped with a Cosworth engine. The driver was Antonio Tamburini . In the first sprint he prevailed against Gianni Morbidelli in the Minardi M191 , but failed in the semifinals to Johnny Herbert , who fielded a Lotus 102 with a Judd engine.

World Championship 1992

Initial situation: the pre-qualification

In the early 1990s, Formula 1 was in a process of shrinking. After 20 teams with a total of 39 cars had participated in the World Championship in 1989, there were 19 teams in 1990 and 18 in the following year. Some small teams ended their Formula 1 involvement in these years: Rial and Zakspeed gave up at the end of 1989, EuroBrun, Life Racing and Onyx / Monteverdi in 1990, and in the course of 1991 AGS and the Modena team ("Lambo Formula") the company. This reduced the number of teams registered in the 1992 season to 16; each of them used two cars.

According to the regulations, a maximum of 30 cars were allowed to be on the racetrack at the same time during qualification training. In view of the fact that a total of 32 cars were registered in 1992, a preliminary round was necessary - as in previous years - in order to limit the number of cars competing in qualifying to 30. This elimination, known as the pre-qualification, took place from eight to nine on the Friday morning before timed practice. Andrea Moda as a new team and the two weakest teams of the last year - Fondmetal and Brabham - had to take part in it. The four fastest drivers in the pre-qualification were entitled to take part in qualifying, in which the 26 drivers who were entitled to start were determined. For the two slowest drivers in the pre-qualification, however, the race weekend ended early. Roberto Moreno failed six, Perry McCarthy five times in the pre-qualification.

When Brabham ceased racing in the summer of 1992, the pre-qualification became obsolete; Andrea Moda Formula was automatically admitted to qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, which was also the team's last Grand Prix.

Preparations: Only rarely test drives

Unlike most other racing teams, Andrea Moda carried out very few test drives. Before the start of the season there was a function test with the C4B in Misano , and at the beginning of April Andrea Moda tested the S921 for the first time in Imola. Before the Grand Prix of Great Britain , Moreno turned a few privately organized test laps in Spa-Francorchamps .

The individual races

The first world championship run to which Andrea Moda Formula competed was the Grand Prix of South Africa, the opening race of the 1992 season. Here the team appeared with Alex Caffi and Enrico Bertaggia. The Coloni C4B was reported as an emergency vehicle. Alex Caffi moved his C4B the Thursday before the race. The occasion was a few acclimatization rounds that FISA granted the drivers so that they could get to know the Kyalami course, which has not been used for several years, before the start of the pre-qualification. On this occasion, the only photographs of the C4B in motion were taken. Caffi only drove half a lap before the car stopped due to a defective battery. The C4B was not prepared for Bertaggia; Bertaggia also did not go on the circuit with his own car. According to a press release, Andrea Sassetti fired a mechanic after he had worked on an allegedly existing second C4B contrary to instructions. Andrea Moda Formula did not take part in the pre-qualification on the following day as it had previously been excluded from the World Championship.

For the following Mexican Grand Prix, Andrea Moda Formula announced the debut of the new S921. The team members and the drivers Bertaggia and Caffi were present on the track. The S921, however, was not yet ready for use. At this point in time, Andrea Moda only had an incomplete set of individual parts that had not yet been put together and could not be put together in the pit lane in Mexico. Sassetti had the individual parts transported to Mexico solely to avoid a penalty that was due for missing a Grand Prize. The lack of operational readiness of the car was officially explained with the late delivery of important parts; In this regard, Sassetti invoked force majeure. He had not informed his pilots, who had traveled at his own expense, about the state of development of the car in advance.

The S921 made its debut at the Brazilian Grand Prix. In São Paulo only Moreno's S921 / 1 was operational. He only drove in the pre-qualification. The team had considerable difficulty starting the car; Observers called the mechanics' disorganized, helpless, and "ridiculous" efforts "cabaret". In his fastest lap Moreno's average speed was nearly 50 km / h lower than the Nigel Mansell , of the Williams FW14 , the B pole position out driving. Ultimately, Moreno missed the pre-qualification by 15 seconds. The second new pilot Perry McCarthy, although he was at the racetrack, was not reported by the team because the FISA had temporarily revoked his super license.

In the subsequent race in Spain, neither Moreno nor McCarthy covered a full lap in the pre-qualification: the engine of Moreno's car suffered a defect on the first lap. Then McCarthy was supposed to complete three slow laps in his car (S921 / 2) before handing him over to Moreno. It didn't come to that: McCarthy's engine already failed 20 meters after the pit exit. McCarthy then gave his first impression of the new S921 with sarcasm: "The car is oversteering".

In San Marino the S921 was more competitive: Moreno only missed the pre-qualification by a tenth of a second. However, he was unable to use the full pre-qualification time: he had to park the car early due to a wheel bearing damage. McCarthy drove seven or eight laps in the second S921, depending on the source, but was nearly nine seconds slower than Moreno.

Contested the team's only Formula 1 race: Roberto Moreno

In the subsequent race in Monaco , Roberto Moreno achieved the only qualification in the history of his team. In the pre-qualification, he reached the third fastest lap time with 1: 27.186 minutes, leaving Andrea Chiesa in the fund metal GR01 and Ukyō Katayama in the Venturi behind. In qualifying he was 0.02 seconds faster than Eric van de Poele and 0.5 seconds faster than Damon Hill , who both drove an identically motorized Brabham. With this advantage Moreno qualified for the 26th and last place on the grid. Moreno remained last in the race, but was already in 19th place on lap ten after the retirement of pre-positioned drivers. On the eleventh lap, Moreno retired after an engine failure. Perry McCarthy was only allowed to do three individual, untimed laps in the pre-qualification; then he had to park his car in the pits on the instructions of the team boss Frédéric Dhainhaut, where it was kept as a replacement car for Moreno. McCarthy's brief appearance in Monaco is often seen in the literature as a mere "alibi".

At the Canadian Grand Prix , Andrea Moda initially had no engines available. According to the team's official announcement, the box containing the Judd engines had not been loaded onto the correct aircraft due to a mistake by British Airways . Others thought this representation was a pretext and instead blamed the team's debts with the engine manufacturer Judd or the freight company for the lack of delivery. Andrea Sassetti ultimately borrowed an engine of the same design from Brabham in Montréal , which he had installed in Moreno's car. McCarthy's report was withdrawn on the grounds of force majeure.

The Andrea Moda team did not appear for the following race in France : In July 1992, the French motorways were temporarily blocked by a truck driver's strike. All teams were able to bypass the barriers, only Andrea Moda's trucks were stuck and did not reach the Magny-Cours circuit in time. As a result, almost all of Andrea Moda's sponsors withdrew.

In Great Britain , Moreno missed pre-qualification by two seconds; He was four seconds short of the last starting position. According to Moreno, a defect in the fuel supply prevented faster lap times. McCarthy was sent out on the dry track at Silverstone with old rain tires. He only completed two laps, at the beginning of the third lap the clutch suffered a defect. The best time he achieved was 16 seconds longer than Moreno's and 20 seconds longer than the time it took to qualify.

At the German Grand Prix , Moreno was three seconds slower than the last qualifier. McCarthy received permission from the team management to complete one lap in the pre-qualification. When he returned to the pit lane, he accidentally skipped the weight check and was disqualified.

The 921 in the livery for the 1992 Hungarian Grand Prix

Since the Brabham team in Hungary, which was also subject to pre-qualification, only showed up with one car for financial reasons, only five drivers competed in pre-qualification, of which the fastest four were eligible to participate in qualifying. For the second time this year, Moreno passed the pre-qualification. However, he missed qualifying by 2.3 seconds in qualifying. McCarthy was only allowed onto the track for the first time 45 seconds before the end of the pre-qualification; with that he had no chance of completing a timed lap. The FIA ​​then asked Andrea Moda to "make serious efforts to qualify for the race" with both vehicles at the upcoming race in Belgium ; in the event of non-compliance, an exclusion from further world championship races has been promised.

In Belgium, after the Brabham team had withdrawn completely from Formula 1, the pre-qualification requirement no longer applies; both Andrea Moda pilots were automatically admitted to qualifying. In Friday practice, Moreno and McCarthy were the slowest drivers. Moreno was 14.5 seconds short of Nigel Mansell's pole time, McCarthy was ten seconds slower. McCarthy drove his laps with a defective steering column that had previously been removed from Moreno's car. The mechanics, who were aware of the faulty steering column, did not notify McCarthy of the defect before qualifying began. After Friday training, there were physical arguments between Sassetti and some mechanics who wanted to enforce payment of outstanding wages. On Saturday night Sassetti and team manager Zago were finally arrested by the Belgian police in the paddock , Sassetti spent one night in prison. The occasion was a customer complaint that Sassetti had paid him with a forged check.

FISA took this as an opportunity to exclude Andrea Moda Formula from the Formula 1 World Championship with immediate effect because of behavior that was damaging to its reputation. Following Sassetti's arrest, John Judd pulled one of Andrea Moda's two engines from the paddock at Spa-Francorchamps because of unpaid bills. A little later, Perry McCarthy resigned.

Andrea Moda Formula reappeared at the Italian Grand Prix a week after being excluded . The team was allowed to enter the pit lane late; When the truck arrived, the technical acceptance was already completed. Sassetti tried through a decent Italian court to get one of his cars to race for Roberto Moreno; however, the application was rejected.

The incidents and their evaluation in the motorsport literature

Apart from the arrest of the team boss, none of the rule violations and incidents that occurred at Andrea Moda Formula were in and of themselves a first in Formula 1.

  • A team that illegally wanted to launch a chassis previously reported by a competitor had already been rejected several times; the British formation Middlebridge-Trussardi was last affected ( 1987 ).
  • The systematic neglect of one of several registered vehicles was not new either: Two years before Andrea Moda Formula, EuroBrun Racing had also registered two cars, but only seriously prepared one. The second car under Claudio Langes was de facto only a parts carrier and replacement vehicle for the preferred driver Roberto Moreno. In 1989, the French AGS team had repeatedly sent its second driver, Joachim Winkelhock , to the pre-qualification with full tanks or worn out tires in order to specifically prevent an undesired pilot from attempting pre-qualification.
  • After all, early engine defects also occurred repeatedly in other poorly positioned teams: For example, at the 1991 Portuguese Grand Prix, the Coloni team's only engine suffered a defect while warming up in the pits, so that Coloni's driver at the time, Pedro Chaves, did not even walk the 20 meters which, according to Perry McCarthy at the 1992 Spanish Grand Prix, represented the shortest attempt at pre-qualification ever made.

What was new, however, was the fact that all of these defects came together in a single team within six months.

In contrast to other unsuccessful teams, to which journalists attested at least an “Olympic spirit” ( Osella ) or a “valiant effort” ( Minardi ) regardless of bad results , the reporting on Andrea Moda lacks any attributes of recognition. Andrea Moda Formula was referred to as " the flop of the 1992 Formula 1 season" or as "Posse"; According to observers, the performances of the team were "bleak", "chaotic" or "embarrassing" and "resembled a smear comedy". Summaries, for example, gave the following impressions:

"Few Grand Prix ventures have started so inauspiciously, or ended in such ignominy."

"Hardly any Formula 1 project began so ominously and ended in such shame."

"Motor racing should really be left to motor racing people, people who have a vague idea ... what they are doing."

"You should leave motorsport to people who have at least a vague idea of ​​what they're actually doing."

- (BBC)

"Andrea Moda Formula didn't look like a Formula 1 team, but like a rap band that just broke the ghetto blaster."

Because of private teams like Andrea Moda Formula, which were founded by people without much experience or money and disappeared a little later, the FIA later demanded a deposit of several million US $ from new Formula 1 teams .

Further development

Andrea Sassetti registered his team for the 1993 Formula 1 season in late autumn 1992 . However, since he had missed the registration deadline, which ran until November 28, 1992, the registration was rejected.

Instead, the name Andrea Moda appeared in US motorsport in 1993: This year, the shoe manufacturer Andrea Moda did not compete as a motorsport team, but as a sponsor of the champ car team Euromotorsport Racing, which drives under an Italian license . Lola's black-painted racing car was launched for Andrea Chiesa , Christian Danner, Davy Jones , David Kudrave , Andrea Montermini and Jeff Wood . The team's most successful driver was rookie Montermini, who finished 18th in the drivers' standings with 12 points.

Numbers and dates

All Andrea Moda Formula drivers in Formula 1

Surname season Grand Prix Points Victories Second Third Poles SR best world championship rank
ItalyItaly Enrico Bertaggia 1992 - - - - - - - -
ItalyItaly Alex Caffi - - - - - - - -
BrazilBrazil Roberto Moreno 1 - - - - - - -
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Perry McCarthy - - - - - - - -

Statistics in Formula 1

season Team name chassis engine tires GP Victories Second Third Poles fastest
race laps 		Points World Cup rank
1992 Andrea Moda Formula Coloni C4B Judd GV V10 G - - - - - - - -
Andrea Moda S921 1 - - - - - - -

Results in Formula 1

season No. driver chassis 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 10 11 12 13 14th 15th 16 Points rank
1992 Flag of South Africa (1928–1994) .svg Flag of Mexico.svg Flag of Brazil.svg Flag of Spain.svg Flag of San Marino (1862–2011) .svg Flag of Monaco.svg Flag of Canada.svg Flag of France.svg Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of Germany.svg Flag of Hungary.svg Flag of Belgium (civil) .svg Flag of Italy.svg Flag of Portugal.svg Flag of Japan.svg Flag of Australia.svg 0 -
34 ItalyItaly A. Caffi Coloni C4B EX
Andrea Moda S921 DNS
BrazilBrazil R. Moreno DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNF DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNQ DNQ EX EX EX EX
35 ItalyItaly E. Bertaggia Coloni C4B EX
Andrea Moda S921 DNS
United KingdomUnited Kingdom P. McCarthy DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ DSQ DNPQ DNQ EX EX EX EX
Legend
colour abbreviation meaning
gold - victory
silver - 2nd place
bronze - 3rd place
green - Placement in the points
blue - Classified outside the point ranks
violet DNF Race not finished (did not finish)
NC not classified
red DNQ did not qualify
DNPQ failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black DSQ disqualified
White DNS not at the start (did not start)
WD withdrawn
Light Blue PO only participated in the training (practiced only)
TD Friday test driver
without DNP did not participate in the training (did not practice)
INJ injured or sick
EX excluded
DNA did not arrive
C. Race canceled
  no participation in the World Cup
other P / bold Pole position
SR / italic Fastest race lap
* not at the finish,
but counted due to the distance covered
() Streak results
underlined Leader in the overall standings

literature

  • Adriano Cimarosti: The century of racing , Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01848-9 .
  • Alan Henry: Autocourse 1992/93 London 1992 (Hazleton Securities Ltd.), ISBN 0-905138-96-1 .
  • David Hodges: A – Z of Grand Prix Cars 1906–2001 , 2001 (Crowood Press), ISBN 1-86126-339-2 . (English)
  • David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945 , Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7
  • Perry McCarthy: Flat Out Flat Broke. Formula One the hard way! Haynes Publishing, Sparkford 2008, ISBN 978-1-84425-018-9 .
  • Pierre Ménard: La Grande Encyclopédie de la Formule 1st 2nd edition. Chronosports, St. Sulpice 2000, ISBN 2-940125-45-7 (French).
  • motor sport aktuell , a weekly trade magazine from Switzerland, with various articles and notes about Andrea Moda in the 1992 issues.

Web links

Commons : Andrea Moda Formula  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b As of June 2014
  2. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 47/1991, p. 14.
  3. ↑ Overview of the most unsuccessful teams in Formula 1 history on the website www.f1rejects.com (accessed on June 20, 2014).
  4. ^ David Hodges: Rennwagen from A – Z after 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 58.
  5. ↑ Benetton sponsored Tyrrell and Alfa Romeo from 1983 to 1985. Then Benetton took over the British Formula 1 racing team Toleman, which was reported as Benetton from the 1986 season.
  6. ↑ Motorsport aktuell, issue 49/1992
  7. ↑ It is not clear whether Andrea Moda Formula took over one or more racing cars from Coloni. For details see here the section "The Cars" .
  8. ^ A b Alan Henry: Autocourse 1992/93 London 1992 (Hazleton Securities Ltd.), ISBN 0-905138-96-1 , p. 88.
  9. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m story of Andrea Moda Formula on the website www.f1rejects.com (accessed on June 20, 2014).
  10. ^ A b Perry McCarthy: Flat Out Flat Broke. Formula One the hard way! Haynes Publishing, Sparkford 2008, ISBN 978-1-84425-018-9 , p. 166.
  11. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 12/1992, p. 9.
  12. ↑ The Concorde Agreement regularly provided for a penalty of US $ 200,000 for missing a Grand Prix.
  13. ↑ a b c Motorsport Aktuell, issue 39/1992, p. 5.
  14. ↑ According to this, Andrea Sassetti is related to Silvano Sassetti, the founder of the eponymous manufacturer of high-priced women's and men's shoes, who is based in Andrea Sassetti's birthplace, Monte San Pietrangeli.
  15. ↑ a b Short biography of Andrea Sassettis on the website www.oldracingcars.com (accessed on June 20, 2014).
  16. ↑ a b c Perry McCarthy: Flat Out Flat Broke. Formula One the hard way! Haynes Publishing, Sparkford 2008, ISBN 978-1-84425-018-9 , p. 194.
  17. ↑ a b c Interview with Andrea Sassetti from 2012 (accessed June 20, 2014).
  18. ↑ a b David Hodges: A – Z of Grand Prix Cars 1906–2001 , 2001 (Crowood Press), ISBN 1-86126-339-2 , p. 18.
  19. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Patrice Buchkalter, Jean François Galeron: "Formula 1 - a complete guide to 1992", Surrèsnes (Taillandrier) 1992, ISBN 2-87636-107-8 , p. 120.
  20. ^ Pierre Ménard: La Grande Encyclopédie de la Formule 1 , 2nd edition, St. Sulpice, 2000, ISBN 2-940125-45-7 , p. 605
  21. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 32/1992, p. 6.
  22. ↑ a b c Interview with Alex Caffi on the website www.oldracingcars.com (accessed on June 20, 2014).
  23. ^ Note on Paul Burgess on the website www.oldracingcars.com (accessed June 20, 2014).
  24. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 51/1991, p. 14.
  25. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 22/1992, p. 9.
  26. ↑ Biography Frédéric Dhainhauts on the website www.grandprix.com (accessed on 20 June 2014).
  27. ↑ a b Motorsport Aktuell, issue 37/1992, p. 9.
  28. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 8/1992, p. 5.
  29. ↑ Caffi had driven in a technically inferior Arrows in 1991 and had also suffered a serious accident in traffic.
  30. ↑ Patrice Burchkalter, Jean-Francois Galeron: Tout sur la Formule 1 1991 , Surrèsnes 1991, ISBN 2-87636-067-5 , p. 80.
  31. ^ Perry McCarthy: Flat Out Flat Broke. Formula One the hard way ! Haynes Publishing, Sparkford 2008, ISBN 978-1-84425-018-9 , p. 167.
  32. ↑ a b c Alan Henry: Autocourse 1992/93 London 1992 (Hazleton Securities Ltd.), ISBN 0-905138-96-1 , p. 118.
  33. ^ Perry McCarthy: Flat Out Flat Broke. Formula One the hard way ! Haynes Publishing, Sparkford 2008, ISBN 978-1-84425-018-9 , p. 174.
  34. ↑ a b Motorsport Aktuell, issue 21/1992, p. 13.
  35. ^ Biography of Perry McCarthy on the website www.f1rejects.com (accessed June 20, 2014).
  36. ^ Perry McCarthy: Flat Out Flat Broke. Formula One the hard way! Haynes Publishing, Sparkford 2008, ISBN 978-1-84425-018-9 , p. 176.
  37. ^ Perry McCarthy: Flat Out Flat Broke. Formula One the hard way! Haynes Publishing, Sparkford 2008, ISBN 978-1-84425-018-9 , p. 195.
  38. ^ Perry McCarthy: Flat Out Flat Broke. Formula One the hard way! Haynes Publishing, Sparkford 2008, ISBN 978-1-84425-018-9 , p. 197.
  39. ↑ a b Motorsport Aktuell, issue 10/1992, p. 25.
  40. ↑ Whether the relocation was planned from the beginning or was a reaction to the team's unexpected exclusion from the World Cup at the end of February 1992 is unclear.
  41. ↑ a b David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 16.
  42. ↑ Entry on the website www.f1technical.net (accessed on June 20, 2014).
  43. ↑ The vehicle known as Coloni C3B was a one-off. It appeared for the first eight races of the 1990 season with Bertrand Gachot as driver. The C3B missed pre-qualification at every Grand Prix.
  44. ↑ a b c d Motorsport Aktuell, issue 11/1992, p. 8.
  45. ↑ Since Andrea Moda had no way of building a new chassis based on the C4 (B) model for financial reasons, this would have to be the chassis that was reported in 1990 with a Subaru engine under the designation C3B.
  46. ↑ http://www.f1rejects.com/teams/andreamoda/picture-gallery.html Images of the Coloni C4B at the Grand Prix of South Africa (accessed on June 20, 2014)
  47. ↑ Illustration of a C4B in the box at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit (accessed June 20, 2014).
  48. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 12/1992, p. 5.
  49. ↑ a b c d Motorsport Aktuell, issue 30/1992, p. 8.
  50. ↑ Illustration of the Coloni C4 at the Bologna Sprint in December 1991 (accessed on July 2, 2014).
  51. ↑ Results of the Bologna Sprint 1991 on the website www.silhouet.com (accessed on June 20, 2014).
  52. ^ Perry McCarthy: Flat Out Flat Broke. Formula One the hard way! Haynes Publishing, Sparkford 2008, ISBN 978-1-84425-018-9 , p. 178.
  53. ↑ Motorsport, issue 30/1992, p. 10.
  54. ^ Alan Henry: Autocourse 1992/93 London 1992 (Hazleton Securities Ltd.), ISBN 0-905138-96-1 , p. 99.
  55. ↑ Illustration on the website www.f1rejects.com (accessed on June 20, 2014).
  56. ↑ on the website www.f1rejects.com (accessed on June 20, 2014).
  57. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 14/1992, pp. 7, 8.
  58. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 24/1992, p. 13.
  59. ^ Perry McCarthy: Flat Out Flat Broke. Formula One the hard way! Haynes Publishing, Sparkford 2008, ISBN 978-1-84425-018-9 , p. 170.
  60. ↑ Entry list for the 1992 Brazilian Grand Prix on the website www.motorsport-total.com (accessed June 20, 2014).
  61. ^ A b Alan Henry: Autocourse 1992/93 London 1992 (Hazleton Securities Ltd.), ISBN 0-905138-96-1 , p. 128.
  62. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 20/1992, p. 10.
  63. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 22/1992, p. 11.
  64. ^ Alan Henry: Autocourse 1992/93 London 1992 (Hazleton Securities Ltd.), ISBN 0-905138-96-1 , p. 138.
  65. ↑ a b Motorsport Aktuell, issue 24/1992, p. 12.
  66. ^ A b Alan Henry: Autocourse 1992/93 London 1992 (Hazleton Securities Ltd.), ISBN 0-905138-96-1 , p. 147.
  67. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 25/1992.
  68. ^ Perry McCarthy: Flat Out Flat Broke. Formula One the hard way! Haynes Publishing, Sparkford 2008, ISBN 978-1-84425-018-9 , p. 189.
  69. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 26/1992, p. 32.
  70. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 29/1992, p. 10.
  71. ^ Alan Henry: Autocourse 1992/93 London 1992 (Hazleton Securities Ltd.), ISBN 0-905138-96-1 , p. 171.
  72. ^ Alan Henry: Autocourse 1992/93 London 1992 (Hazleton Securities Ltd.), ISBN 0-905138-96-1 , p. 177.
  73. ↑ Image of the rainy S921 / 2 in sunshine in Silverstone (accessed on June 20, 2014).
  74. ^ Alan Henry: Autocourse 1992/93 London 1992 (Hazleton Securities Ltd.), ISBN 0-905138-96-1 , p. 187.
  75. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 32/1992, p. 10.
  76. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 35/1992, p. 7.
  77. ^ Alan Henry: Autocourse 1992/93 London 1992 (Hazleton Securities Ltd.), ISBN 0-905138-96-1 , p. 198.
  78. ↑ The second car went unreported: the team only had one engine, and there was no second driver after McCarthy's resignation.
  79. ^ Alan Henry: Autocourse 1992/93 London 1992 (Hazleton Securities Ltd.), ISBN 0-905138-96-1 , pp. 215, 218 (with illustration of the locked out team transporter).
  80. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 45/1987, p. 22.
  81. ↑ Something different was true for the Osella FA1 / F, which according to general opinion was a detailed replica of the Alfa Romeo T183; the first of the three copies of the FA1 / F even used the monocoque of a T183. The FISA was not offended by Osella Corsa's use of the car.
  82. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 25/1990, p. 29.
  83. ↑ Ferdi Krähling, Gregor diameter: victory or seltzer . The German drivers in Formula 1. Delius Klasing, Bielefeld, 2013, ISBN 978-3-7688-3686-9 , p. 79.
  84. ^ Perry McCarthy: Flat Out Flat Broke. Formula One the hard way! Haynes Publishing, Sparkford 2008, ISBN 978-1-84425-018-9 , p. 184.
  85. ↑ a b Adriano Cimarosti: The century of racing , motor book publisher Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01848-9 , p 442, respectively.
  86. ^ David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 204.
  87. ↑ Adriano Cimarosti: The century of racing , motor book publisher Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01848-9 , S. 455th
  88. ^ Pierre Ménard: La Grande Encyclopédie de la Formule 1, 2nd edition, St. Sulpice, 2000, p. 605.
  89. ↑ Auto Motor und Sport Spezial: Formula 1 - Preview of the GP of Germany 1992, supplement to issue 15/1992, p. 29.
  90. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 24/1992, p. 10.
  91. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 52/1992, p. 22.
  92. ↑ The grand prizes for which the driver has qualified are counted.
This article was added to the list of excellent articles on July 10, 2014 in this version .