Osella FA1D

**Osella FA1D**
	Corrado Fabis FA1D / 1 with long side boxes
Constructor:	Osella
Designer:	Tony Southgate ; Hervé Guiplin
Predecessor:	Osella FA1C
Successor:	Osella FA1E
Technical specifications
Chassis:	aluminum
Wheelbase:	2700 mm
Weight:	557 kg
Tires:	Michelin
Petrol:	Agip
statistics
Driver:	Piercarlo Ghinzani Corrado Fabi;
First start:	1983 Brazilian Grand Prix
Last start:	1983 Canadian Grand Prix
World Cup points:	-
Podiums:	-
Leadership laps:	-

The Osella FA1D was a Formula 1 racing car that the Italian team Osella Squadra Corse used in the 1983 Formula 1 season . The FA1D replaced the technically largely identical Osella FA1C . With its Cosworth DFV engine it was a transitional model that should cover the time up to the appearance of the FA1E equipped with a twelve-cylinder engine from Alfa Romeo . It was Osella's least successful car: in a total of 13 world championship races, the FA1D never crossed the finish line.

technology

The FA1D was not a fundamentally new vehicle. Rather, it represented a revised version of the Osella FA1C presented in 1981. Two of the FA1C chassis that had been used with wing profiles in the side pods until the last race of the season in 1982 were used as the basis. With the beginning of the 1983 season, wing profiles in the side pods were banned. Rather, the sub-floors had to be completely smooth so that a suction effect was excluded.

Osella built two cars for 1983 that implemented the changed set of rules differently:

In the FA1D / 2, Osella shortened the side pods considerably. The radiators sat in small, triangular expansions directly in front of the rear wheels. Under the direction of Giuseppe Petrotta, Osella - like the other teams - installed a large rear wing, which was supposed to compensate for the loss of downforce caused by the flat floor. At the same time, however, the air resistance increased considerably, so that the top speed dropped sharply. This model was reported three times in 1983 for Piercarlo Ghinzani , who received the first version of the FA1E with an Alfa engine for the fourth race of the season. The FA1E took over the narrow hull shape of the FA1D / 2.

With the FA1D / 1, however, Osella kept the FA1C's hull shape unchanged for reasons of cost. This also included the wide and long side pods that reached as far as the cockpit, which had been brought to the maximum size in the previous year to achieve the greatest possible suction effect. Osella only installed a smooth sub-floor for use in the 1983 season. This vehicle was driven exclusively by Corrado Fabi in the spring and summer of 1983 .

Races

The British racing car chronicler David Hodges claims that the FA1D was already released for the 1982 German Grand Prix . In the spring of 1982 Osella had heavily revised one of the FA1C chassis and reported it as the FA1D from the summer of 1982. 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.

Osella Corse started the fourth Formula 1 season with the revised FA1D. The drivers were Piercarlo Ghinzani and Corrado Fabi. Ghinzani fielded the newly built second FA1D during the first three races of the year. He couldn't qualify for any race. Fabi, the team's second driver, drove the first FA1D up to the Canadian Grand Prix . In eight attempts he was able to qualify five times, but did not finish in any race.

Race results

season	driver	number	chassis	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	Points	rank
1983												-	-
	Italy Corrado Fabi	31	Osella FA1D / 1	DNF	DNQ	DNF	DNF	DNQ	DNF	DNQ	DNF
	Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani	32	Osella FA1D / 2	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ

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 (English).
Pierre Ménard: La Grande Encyclopédie de la Formule 1st 2nd edition. Chronosports, St. Sulpice 2000, ISBN 2-940125-45-7 (French).

Web links

Commons : Osella FA1D - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945. 1994, p. 205.
↑ On the ban on wing cars and its effects, cf. Cimarosti: The Century of Racing. 1997, p. 327.
^ Hodges: AZ of Grand Prix Cars. 2001, p. 185.
↑ http://www.oldracingcars.com/f1/car.php?CarID=FA1D/2 History of the Osella FA1D / 2 on the website www.oldracingcars.com (accessed on May 19, 2017).
↑ http://www.oldracingcars.com/f1/car.php?CarID=FA1D/1 History of the Osella FA1D / 1 on the website www.oldracingcars.com (accessed on May 19, 2017).
^ David Hodges: AZ of Grand Prix Cars. Crowood Press, Marlborough 2001, ISBN 1-86126-339-2 , p. 205.
^ David Hodges: AZ of Grand Prix Cars. Crowood Press, Marlborough 2001, ISBN 1-86126-339-2 , p. 185.
^ History of the Osella FA1C on the website www.oldracingcars.com (accessed on May 19, 2017).

[1] David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945. 1994, p. 205.

[2] On the ban on wing cars and its effects, cf. Cimarosti: The Century of Racing. 1997, p. 327.

[3] Hodges: AZ of Grand Prix Cars. 2001, p. 185.

[4] ttp://www.oldracingcars.com/f1/car.php?CarID=FA1D/2 History of the Osella FA1D / 2 on the website www.oldracingcars.com (accessed on May 19, 2017).

[5] ttp://www.oldracingcars.com/f1/car.php?CarID=FA1D/1 History of the Osella FA1D / 1 on the website www.oldracingcars.com (accessed on May 19, 2017).

[6] David Hodges: AZ of Grand Prix Cars. Crowood Press, Marlborough 2001, ISBN 1-86126-339-2 , p. 205.

[7] David Hodges: AZ of Grand Prix Cars. Crowood Press, Marlborough 2001, ISBN 1-86126-339-2 , p. 185.

[8] History of the Osella FA1C on the website www.oldracingcars.com (accessed on May 19, 2017).