Merzario A1

Merzario A1

Constructor:	Team Merzario
Designer:	Giorgio Piola Arturo Merzario
Successor:	Merzario A2
Technical specifications
Chassis:	Aluminum monocoque
Engine:	Cosworth DFV V8
Wheelbase:	2420
Weight:	595 kg
Tires:	Goodyear
statistics
Driver:	Arturo Merzario Alberto Colombo
First start:	1978 Argentina Grand Prix
Last start:	US Grand Prix East 1978
Starts Victories Poles SR 8th - - -
World Cup points:	-
Podiums:	-
Leadership laps:	-
Status: end of season 1978

Two different monopostos of the Italian racing team Team Merzario were referred to as Merzario A1 , which in the 1978 season started in a total of three versions in some Formula 1 races. In the literature, the vehicles are often referred to as Merzario A1 / 1 , A1 / 1B and A1 / 2 . Neither of these variants was successful; During the year, the team did not reach a single finish.

background

The Italian racer ARTURO MERZARIO was in 1972 and 1973 as a works driver of the Scuderia Ferrari gone in Formula 1 race at the start. He then drove for two years for Frank Williams ' economically troubled British team before receiving a works contract with March Engineering for the 1976 season . After the end of the year, March did not renew the contract with Merzario. Merzario then founded its own team in the Lombardy municipality of Carate Brianza , which started in 1977 with a customer vehicle from March. The car was registered as March 761 B (chassis number 761B / 2), but there are indications that it was a car that - contrary to what its name suggested - was not state of the art. One source assumes that Merzarios 761B / 2 used the monocoque of the 761/1, which was used in 1976 in the March factory team for Vittorio Brambilla . Others were of the opinion that the 761B / 2 was actually a chassis from 1975 (type March 751 ) that had only received a new body for the 1976 season. With this car, Merzario was the fastest March driver in some races at the beginning of the season, but fell behind in the course of the year, mainly due to inadequate maintenance and stopped racing until the end of the season before the Italian Grand Prix .

By the end of the year, Giorgio Piola had developed the team's first own racing car, the Merzario A1, intended for the 1978 season. The reason for this step was the fact that March, the only remaining manufacturer of customer vehicles, gave up its Formula 1 involvement at the end of the 1977 season and no competitive racing cars were available on the market for the following season. Merzario was convinced that he could, so to speak, develop the March further with his own resources. The development process was largely funded by the Italian branch of the Marlboro cigarette brand , with which Merzario had had business ties since the beginning of the decade.

The A1 was created in two copies, which differed from one another in terms of details and technical basis. The first model is often referred to retrospectively - but not consistently - as A1 / 1, the second as A1 / 2. The A1 / 1 also had the B version A1 / 1B.

Merzario A1 / 1

technology

The A1 / 1 was technically similar to the March 761B, but it was not exactly the same. Regardless of this, a March monograph refers to the A1 as a "761B clone". The monocoque of the Merzario A1 / 1 was made of aluminum. The construction was based on that of the March 761B, but did not copy it completely. For the A1 / 1, Merzario did not use any March chassis components. The front wheels were suspended from double wishbones, the rear of the car had double longitudinal struts. The draft corresponded conceptually to March 761B. A 3.0 liter eight-cylinder naturally aspirated engine from Cosworth (DFV) served as the drive. The power was transmitted to the rear wheels by a five-speed transmission from Hewland (FGA). It is considered likely that these components were taken from March 761B.

The body of the A1 / 1 bore no resemblance to that of the March 761. It was considered "clunky" and unattractive. The special features included a barrel-shaped engine cover and air inlets in the area of ​​the cockpit fairing. Piola and Merzario had taken up some ideas from the Alfa Romeo 177 here . The vehicle nose was broad and curved like a wave.

The Merzario A1 / 1 remained a one-off. The chassis was slightly revised for the French Grand Prix . This made the A1 / 1 the A1 / 1B. It is not to be confused with the A1B (alternative designation: A2), which was entered in some races in 1979.

Livery and sponsors

The Merzario A1 / 1 was initially painted red, but at the French Grand Prix the basic color changed to black. The car had sponsor stickers from Marlboro, Flor Bath and the oil company Gulf .

Races

The regular driver of the A1 / 1 was Arturo Merzario. The A1 / 1 made its debut in the first race of the season in January 1978 at the Argentine Grand Prix . Merzario qualified for 20th place on the grid and started ahead of Didier Pironi in the Tyrrell 008 , which he had to end after nine laps due to a differential damage. In South Africa and the USA (West) , Merzario succeeded in qualifying again, but only in Long Beach because the drivers Rupert Keegan ( Surtees ) and Hans Joachim Stuck ( Shadow ) who had qualified before him were unable to take part in the race after training accidents. Neither in South Africa nor in the USA did Merzario finish; Technical defects always led to early failures. The subsequent European part of the season was marked by a number of missed qualifications ( Brazil , Spain , France and Germany ) and pre-qualifications ( Monaco and Belgium ). Merzario only made it onto the grid in Sweden and Great Britain . In Sweden he crossed the finish line eight laps behind, but was not classified, in Great Britain he was out due to decreasing engine oil pressure.

During the summer of 1978 the A1 / 1 and A1 / 1B were replaced by the A1 / 2. The A1 / 1B was used again at the Italian Grand Prix when Merzario reported the car for Alberto Colombo as the second driver on his team. Colombo failed in Monza as by far the slowest driver due to the pre-qualification.

After that, the A1 / 1 was no longer used. However, its chassis became the basis for the newly designed Merzario A3 in spring 1979 .

Merzario A1 / 2

At the Austrian Grand Prix , Merzario presented a new copy of the A1, which is often referred to as the A1 / 2 in literature. Arturo Merzario did not announce the car "as a new model, but only as an improved version".

technology

Contrary to Arturo Merzario's explanation, the A1 / 2 was a different car than the A1 / 1. The monocoque of the A1 / 2 was not - like its predecessor - a March replica; rather, the A1 / 2 used the unchanged monocoque of the March 761B / 2, which Merzario had driven in the 1977 season and which, depending on the source, was now two or three years old. The body of the A1 / 2 was similar to that of the A1 / 1. The A1 / 2 still had no wing profiles in the underbody, so that no suction effect was achieved. The drive and power transmission were in turn taken over from components purchased from Cosworth and Hewland.

Races

Merzario drove the A1 / 2 for the first time in training for the Austrian Grand Prix. With the new car, he missed qualifying by two hundredths of a second. He also failed to qualify for the subsequent Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort ; as Rupert Keegan (Surtees) had an accident in the warm-up and could not start, Merzario moved up to the starting field. In its first race, the A1 / 2 retired after 40 laps with engine failure. In Italy, Merzario qualified for 22nd place on the grid in the A1 / 2, while Alberto Colombo, the team's second driver, failed in the pre-qualification in the A1 / 1B. Merzario retired again in the race due to engine failure. In the USA (East) , a gearbox failure ultimately led to a race failure, and in the last race of the season in Canada , Merzario once again missed out on qualifying.

In the first races of the year, the A1 / 2 was launched as the Merzario A2 (alternative name: A1B) with the same technology but a revised body .

Results

Merzario A1 / 1

driver	No.	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	Points	rank
Automobile World Championship 1978																		0	-
A. Merzario	37	DNF	DNQ	DNF	DNF	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNQ	NC	DNQ	DNF	DNQ
A. Colombo	38														DNPQ

Merzario A1 / 2

driver	No.	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	Points	rank
Automobile World Championship 1978																		0	-
A. Merzario	37												DNQ	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNQ

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
• David Hodges: A – Z of Grand Prix Cars 1906–2001 , 2001 (Crowood Press), ISBN 1-86126-339-2
• David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 116.
• Mike Lawrence: March, The Rise and Fall of a Motor Racing Legend , MRP, Orpington 2001, ISBN 1-899870-54-7
• Pierre Ménard: La Grande Encyclopédie de la Formule 1 , 2nd edition, St. Sulpice, 2000, ISBN 2-940125-45-7
• Doug Nye: The Big Book of Formula 1 Racing Cars. The three-liter formula from 1966 . Publishing house Rudolf Müller, Cologne 1986, ISBN 3-481-29851-X .

Web links

• Racing history of the two Merzario A1 models on the website www.oldracingcars.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Overview of the individual copies of the March 761 on the website www.oldracingcars.com (accessed on October 23, 2017).
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} An outline of the history of Team Merzario on the website www.f1rejects.com (archived version), accessed on October 23, 2017.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Doug Nye: The great book of Formula 1 racing cars. The three-liter formula from 1966 . Verlagsgesellschaft Rudolf Müller, Cologne 1986, ISBN 3-481-29851-X , p. 216.
4. ↑ Racing history of the two Merzario A1 models on the website www.oldracingcars.com (accessed on October 23, 2017).
5. ^ At David Hodges: Rennwagen von A – Z nach 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , S. 190, and Doug Nye: The big book of the Formula 1 racing cars. The three-liter formula from 1966 . Verlagsgesellschaft Rudolf Müller, Cologne 1986, ISBN 3-481-29851-X , p. 216, this differentiation is missing.
6. ↑ Mike Lawrence: March, The Rise and Fall of a Motor Racing Legend , MRP, Orpington 2001, ISBN 1-899870-54-7 , S-116.
7. ^ David Hodges: Rennwagen from A – Z after 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 190.