Arrows A1

Riccardo Patrese's A1 in the pit lane at the 1978 Italian Grand Prix

An A1 at the Silverstone Classic 2012

The Arrows A1 was the Arrows Grand Prix International's emergency vehicle in the 1978 Formula 1 season .

Development history and technology

The Arrows A1 was a direct result of the circumstances surrounding the creation of Arrows at the beginning of 1978. At the end of 1977 Jackie Oliver , Alan Rees , Dave Wass and Tony Southgate left their previous employer Shadow and founded Arrows with the financial support of the Italian Franco Ambrosio . Southgate also took the complete plans for the Shadow DN9 with them . At Arrows, an almost identical car, the FA1, was built and successfully used in the Formula 1 World Championship at the beginning of the year . However, Shadow's team leaders sued Southgate and the rest of the management for injunctive relief. Shadow was right, and Arrows engineers had to build a new racing car within 52 days.

Since Arrows had already expected a negative outcome of the proceedings, two chassis were already finished when the final verdict of a British court was issued. However, the differences between the A1 and the FA1 were not great. In contrast to the previous model, the A1 had a wider track and a longer wheelbase. The A1's internal rear suspension was also a distinguishing feature. The engines were supplied with the DFL V8 engine by Cosworth .

Racing history

The A1 made its racing debut at the 1978 Austrian Grand Prix . While Rolf Stommelen failed in the pre-qualification, Riccardo Patrese qualified the second A1 in 15th place. The affected by rain turbulent race collided Patrese at the restart - the race was in the fifth round after several accidents off and interrupted - with the Ensign N177 by Harald Ertl and retired. At the next race in the Netherlands, Patrese collided with another vehicle at the start. This time with the Tyrrell pilot Didier Pironi . Stommelen failed again in the pre-qualification.

Patrese's third starting collision in a row - at the Italian Grand Prix  - had fatal consequences. Patrese was subsequently identified as the originator of a mass collision and banned from a race. After the start he found himself on the wrong side of the track in the thick of the crowd and had to pull in to brake the chicane. There he collided with James Hunt . Ronnie Peterson's Lotus was thrown into the guardrails after hitting Hunt's car, hit back on the track and went up in flames. Several vehicles were involved in the ensuing mass collision. James Hunt managed to rescue Peterson from the burning Lotus 78 , but the Swede died a few days later in a Milan hospital.

At the US Grand Prix , Stommelen managed to qualify for the first time with the A1 and finished the race five laps behind the winner Carlos Reutemann in the Ferrari 312T3 in sixteenth. At the last race of the season, the Canadian Grand Prix , Patrese finished fourth, the first and only finish of the A1 in the points.

For the 1979 Formula 1 season , Arrows built new chassis that had been modified in key areas and used it as the A1B in the world championship. From the French Grand Prix , Arrows used the A2 .

Aurora AFX Formula 1 Series

In 1979 Rupert Keegan secured the overall standings of the Aurora AFX Formula 1 series after five race wins on an A1 .

Race results in Formula 1

driver	No.	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	Points	rank
1978 Formula 1 season																		3 /11 *	10.
R. Patrese	35												DNF	DNF	DNF	EX	4th
R. Stommelen	36												DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	16	DNPQ

* Of the total of 11 points scored this season, three were scored with the A1. The remaining eight points were previously achieved with the FA1.

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

• David Hodges: Racing cars from A – Z after 1945. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 .

Web links

Commons : Arrows A1  - collection of images, videos and audio files