Osella FA1ME

Osella FA1ME

Constructor:	Osella
Designer:	Antonio Tomaini Ignazio Lunetta
Predecessor:	Osella FA1M-89
Successor:	Fondmetal Fomet 1
Technical specifications
Chassis:	CFRP monocoque
Wheelbase:	2860 mm
Weight:	505 kg
Tires:	Pirelli
Petrol:	Agip
statistics
Driver:	Olivier Grouillard
First start:	1990 San Marino Grand Prix
Last start:	1991 Brazilian Grand Prix
Starts Victories Poles SR 7th - - -
World Cup points:	-
Podiums:	-
Leadership laps:	-

The Osella FA1ME was a Formula 1 racing car from the Osella Squadra Corse team , with which the Piedmontese team contested its final Formula 1 season in 1990 . From a technical point of view, the car was a further development of the Osella FA1M-89 that was released last year . The car only crossed the finish line three times in 1990 and did not score any world championship points. After the Osella team was taken over by Fondmetal in November 1990 , the almost unchanged car appeared for the first two races of the 1991 season under the name Fondmetal FA1ME .

technology

The chassis and body of the FA1ME largely corresponded to the Osella FA1M-89 designed in winter 1988/89. The wheelbase was lengthened by 10 mm. The most important difference concerned the front suspension: the spring / damper unit, which was housed in the inner area of ​​the cockpit on the FA1M-89, has now been relocated back to the nose of the vehicle. It was located on the upper fairing of the monocoque. In addition, there were new air intakes. The rest of the package, including the Cosworth DFR engine and the Pirelli tires, which initially continued to be superior in qualifying, remained unchanged. However, the engine no longer came from Mader , but from Hart . According to the factory, the total weight did not exceed the minimum weight of 505 kg required by the regulations.

Osella made two copies of the FA1ME.

Painting

In the version used in 1990, the FA1ME was painted red, orange and black. The sticker of the sponsor Fondmetal was bigger than ever before at Osella; it dominated large parts of the engine cover. In the 1991 version of the Fondmetal Corse team, the car was largely painted black and had silver and red accents.

Races

1990

1990 was the last Formula 1 season for the Osella team. Unlike in the previous year, the racing team only used one vehicle that was driven by Olivier Grouillard. The FA1ME made its debut in the third race of the 1990 Imola season . Grouillard qualified in the FA1ME for seven of a total of 14 races.

After two finishings in Canada (13th place) and Mexico (19), the team's performance decreased. From the French Grand Prix to the Hungarian Grand Prix , Grouillard missed the qualification or pre-qualification. The main reason for this was the poor handling of the car, which only improved when a new underbody was installed for the Belgian Grand Prix . After that Osella was able to qualify regularly in the second third of the starting field, but the car still suffered from a lack of reliability. The wheel bearings alone broke in three races and forced an early end. There were only four finishings in total; the best result was two 13th places in Canada and Australia.

1991

Fondmetal Corse, the successor to the Osella team, competed in the first two races of the 1991 season with the technically unchanged FA1ME. Grouillard remained as a driver; he failed each in the pre-qualification. Then Fondmetal's first in-house design appeared, the Fondmetal Fomet 1 , which had been developed in Great Britain and no longer had any conceptual similarity to the FA1ME.

Race results

Osella FA1ME

driver	No.	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	Points	rank
1990 Formula 1 season																		0
O. Grouillard	14th			DNF	DNQ	13	19th	DNPQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNPQ	16	DNF	DNQ	DNF	DNQ	DNF

Fund metal FA1ME

driver	No.	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	Points	rank
1991 Formula 1 season																		0
O. Grouillard	14th	DNPQ	DNPQ

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 , Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01848-9
• Alan Henry: Auto Course 1990/91 , Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1991, ISBN 0-905138-74-0 .
• Alan Henry: Auto Course 1991/92. London 1992 (Hazleton Securities Ltd.), ISBN 0-905138-87-2
• 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 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7
• Pierre Ménard: La Grande Encyclopédie de la Formule 1 , 2nd edition, St. Sulpice, 2000, ISBN 2-940125-45-7 (French)

Web links

• Olivier Grouillard in Osella FA1ME (1990)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Alan Henry: Auto Course 1990/91 , Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1991, ISBN 0-905138-74-0 , p. 122.