Osella FA1C

Osella FA1C

Osella FA1C in the livery of the Dutch GP in 1982
Constructor:	Osella
Designer:	Hervé Guiplin
Predecessor:	Osella FA1B
Successor:	Osella FA1D
Technical specifications
Chassis:	aluminum
Wheelbase:	2720 ​​mm
Weight:	580 kg
Tires:	Michelin Pirelli
Petrol:	Agip
statistics
Driver:	Jean-Pierre Jarier Ricardo Paletti
First start:	1981 Italian Grand Prix
Last start:	1982 Las Vegas Grand Prix
Starts Victories Poles SR 18th - - -
World Cup points:	3
Podiums:	-
Leadership laps:	-

The Osella FA1C was a Formula 1 racing car that was developed, built and used by the Italian racing team Osella Squadra Corse . It was the successor to the Osella FA1B and was launched in 1981 and 1982 . The FA1C was the first Formula 1 car with which Osella scored world championship points. The Osella FA1C is the car in which the Italian racing driver Riccardo Paletti had a fatal accident.

background

The company Osella Corse, which can be traced back to the designer Abarth , primarily developed and built racing cars for mountain and sports car races in the 1970s . In the 1979 Formula 2 European Championship , it competed successfully with its own FA2 / 79 chassis ; the works driver Eddie Cheever won three races and finished fourth in the European championship. In search of sponsors for the following Formula 2 season, team boss Enzo Osella turned to the Italian subsidiary of the Unilever group, which was not interested in Formula 2 due to the poor media coverage, but Osella provided support for the case in September 1979 offered the team to move up to Formula 1. Osella responded and in three months built the basis for a competition in the 1980 Formula 1 World Championship, the first race of which took place on January 13, 1980. The beginnings of the team were therefore largely improvised. With the team's first Formula 1 car, the Osella FA1 , Cheever did not reach the finish line. Since the very heavy FA1 could only be modified to a limited extent, the team management decided in April 1980 to develop a completely new car. Enzo Osella and Giorgio Valentini took over its construction. This became the FA1B, which was replaced by the further developed FA1C in autumn 1981.

The FA1C was also used in the 1982 season. The British racing car chronicler David Hodges claims that the FA1C underwent a revision in the spring of 1982, as a result of which the car was referred to as FA1D from the German Grand Prix . This representation finds no support either in the Osella works biography or in the entry lists for the Grand Prix of 1982. After that, all vehicles that Osella used during the 1982 season were variants of the FA1C. Its successor, the FA1D, did not appear until the opening race of the 1983 season.

technology

The FA1C was designed by Tony Southgate and Hervé Guiplin. He designed a new monocoque that was reduced in weight compared to the previous model and was largely made of plastics. The body was made of aluminum . The car was very wide and again had larger side pods to increase the suction effect of the wing profile. In terms of chassis and drive technology, the FA1C largely corresponded to its two predecessor models. Osella continued to use Cosworth DFV eight-cylinder engines.

Races

1981 Formula 1 season

The FA1C made its debut at the Italian Grand Prix in September. Here, as in the two following races, it was driven by Jean-Pierre Jarier , while Beppe Gabbiani , the team's second driver, had to use the FA1B, which was introduced in 1980 , until the end of the season . Jarier finished the FA1C's debut race with a finish in ninth place. In the following races in Canada and Las Vegas , however, he was eliminated.

1982 Formula 1 season

In the 1982 Formula 1 season, the FA1C was used from the start of the season up to the French Grand Prix , which was held in late July. The drivers were Jean-Pierre Jarier and the debutant Riccardo Paletti. Jarier finished three times. The best result was fourth place at the San Marino Grand Prix , in which, however, due to a boycott by individual teams, only 14 cars started. Riccardo Paletti managed to qualify three times with the FA1C in eight attempts. In his third Formula 1 start on the occasion of the Canadian Grand Prix , he had a fatal accident in the FA1C. In the second half of the season, the team reported only Jarier. After Paletti's fatal accident, Osella decided not to reoccupy the second cockpit.

Race results

season	driver	number	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	Points	rank
1981																			-	-
	Jean-Pierre Jarier	32													9	DNF	DNF
1982																			3	12
	Jean-Pierre Jarier	31	DNF	9	DNF	4th	DNF	DNQ	DNF	DNS	14th	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNQ	DNF	DNF	DNS
	Ricardo Paletti	32	DNQ	DNPQ	DNQ	DNF	DNQ	DNPQ	DNS	DNF

literature

• Adriano Cimarosti: The Century of Racing. Cars, tracks and pilots. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01848-9 .
• David Hodges: Racing cars from A – Z after 1945. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 .
• David Hodges: A – Z of Grand Prix Cars. Crowood Press, Marlborough 2001, ISBN 1-86126-339-2
• Pierre Ménard: La Grande Encyclopédie de la Formule 1st 2nd edition. Chronosports, St. Sulpice 2000, ISBN 2-940125-45-7 (French).

Web links

• History of the Osella FA1C on the website www.oldracingcars.com
• Image of an Osella FA1C in the paint scheme from 1982

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gianni Tomazzoni: Enzo Osella , Schena, 2011, ISBN 9788882299217 , pp 108th
2. ↑ Gianni Tomazzoni: Enzo Osella , Schena, 2011, ISBN 9788882299217 , pp 112th
3. ↑ ^{a b} Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945. 1994, p. 205.
4. ^ David Hodges: AZ of Grand Prix Cars. Crowood Press, Marlborough 2001, ISBN 1-86126-339-2 , p. 185.
5. ^ History of the Osella FA1C on the website www.oldracingcars.com (accessed on May 19, 2017).
6. ^ David Hodges: AZ of Grand Prix Cars. 2001, p. 206.
7. ↑ Cimarosti: The Century of Racing. 1997, p. 323 f.