Merzario
Full name | Team Merzario |
---|---|
Founder(s) | Arturo Merzario, Guglielmo Bellasi |
Noted staff | Giampaolo Dallara, Simon Hadfield |
Noted drivers | Arturo Merzario Alberto Colombo Gianfranco Brancatelli |
Formula One World Championship career | |
First entry | 1977 Spanish Grand Prix |
Races entered | 38 |
Engines | Cosworth |
Constructors' Championships | 0 |
Drivers' Championships | 0 |
Race victories | 0 |
Points | 0 |
Pole positions | 0 |
Fastest laps | 0 |
Final entry | 1979 United States Grand Prix |
Merzario was a Formula One and Formula Two team and constructor from Italy. The team participated in 38 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix but scored no championship points.
Formula One
1977
Merzario was set up in 1977 by former Ferrari, Williams and March driver Arturo Merzario when he could no longer find a drive with an established team. He initially campaigned a March 761B during 1977, his best result being 14th in the 1977 Belgian Grand Prix. This proved to be the only occasion in three years of participation in Formula One that one of their cars was classified at the finish of a World Championship Grand Prix. During the early part of the season Merzario's car was consistently the fastest of a number of March 761s on the grid,[1] though as the season wore on, he slipped down the grids and finally decided to abandon the season and concentrate on the following year and his new car.
1978
In 1978 Merzario partnered with Swiss Formula One entrant Guglielmo Bellasi and laid the foundation for his own team. Merzario's first self-built Formula One effort, the A1, appeared in 1978 and was a basically conventional car based largely on his March 761B, with a red colour scheme and crude bodywork vaguely reminiscent of a
1979
For the 1979 Formula One season the second A1 was revised into the A1B with more elegant bodywork and revised front suspension, and a new yellow and black livery. The A1B was the only Merzario to qualify for Grands Prix during 1979, which it did twice, though it retired on both occasions.
The A2 (designated A3 by some sources),
By this time, Merzario and Bellasi had purchased the assets of the
After Formula One
After plans to modify the A4 into the A5 were not completed due to financial problems,[1] Merzario turned to constructing Formula Two cars. He was keen to point out that the engine bay of his 1980 BMW-engined M1 F2 machine could easily be modified to take a Cosworth DFV F1 engine, though no such effort was ever made.[3] The car was fairly unsuccessful in F2, and Merzario decided to return to running March chassis for 1981. With March 812s, the team finally scored two podiums in F2, with Piero Necchi at the wheel, but after a lacklustre 1982 season, Merzario again built his own cars for 1983 with minimal success. After moving down to Italian Formula 3, he finally moved away from team ownership in the mid-1980s.
Racing record
Complete Formula One results
(key)
Year | Chassis | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pts | WCC |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1977 | March 761B | Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | G | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | ESP | MON | BEL | SWE | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | USA | CAN | JPN | 0 | NC | ||
Arturo Merzario | 37 | Ret | DNQ | 14 | Ret | Ret | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||
1978 | Merzario A1 | Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | G | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | MON | BEL | ESP | SWE | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | USA | CAN | 0 | NC | |||
Arturo Merzario | 37 | Ret | DNQ | Ret | Ret | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNQ | NC | DNQ | Ret | DNQ | DNQ | Ret | Ret | Ret | DNQ | |||||||
Alberto Colombo | 34 | DNPQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
1979 | Merzario A1B | Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | G | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | ESP | BEL | MON | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | CAN | USA | 0 | NC | ||||
Arturo Merzario | 24 | Ret | DNQ | DNQ | Ret | |||||||||||||||||||
Merzario A2 | DNS | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||
Gianfranco Brancatelli | DNPQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Merzario A4 | Arturo Merzario | DNQ | DNQ | PO | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ |
Complete Formula Two results
(key)
Year | Chassis | Engine | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1980 | Merzario M1 | BMW | THR | HOC | NÜR | VAL
|
PAU | SIL | ZOL | MUG | ZAN
|
PER | MIS
|
HOC | ||
Arturo Merzario | Ret | Ret | Ret | 9 | Ret | 16 | 17 | DNS | Ret | |||||||
Guido Daccò | 11 | Ret | ||||||||||||||
Piero Necchi | Ret | Ret | 12 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | DNQ | 12 | |||||||
1981 | Merzario M1 March 812 |
BMW | SIL | HOC | THR | NÜR | VAL
|
MUG | PAU | PER | SPA | DON | MIS
|
MAN | ||
Piero Necchi | DNS | DNS | 6 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 3 | 11 | 7 | Ret | ||||||
Gianfranco Trombetti | 20 | Ret | Ret | DNQ | Ret | Ret | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | ||||||
Arturo Merzario | DNQ | DNS | Ret | Ret | ||||||||||||
Marco Brand | DNQ | Ret | ||||||||||||||
Loris Kessel | DNPQ | 19 | ||||||||||||||
Guido Daccò | Ret | |||||||||||||||
Jo Gartner | DNQ | 8 | ||||||||||||||
1982 | Merzario 822 | BMW | SIL | HOC | THR | NÜR | MUG | VAL
|
PAU | SPA | HOC | DON | MAN | PER | MIS
| |
Jo Gartner | 6 | Ret | 10 | Ret | Ret | 7 | Ret | 15 | 7 | Ret | Ret | |||||
Oscar Pedersoli | Ret | Ret | 19 | DNS | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | ||||
Richard Dallest | DNS | Ret | 6 | Ret | ||||||||||||
Harald Brutschin | 13 | DNQ | DNQ | 17 | Ret | |||||||||||
Guido Daccò | 12 | 8 | 7 | 13 | ||||||||||||
Roberto Campominosi | 10 | |||||||||||||||
Lamberto Leoni | 14 | |||||||||||||||
1983 | Merzario M28 | BMW | SIL | THR | HOC | NÜR | VAL
|
PAU | JAR
|
DON | MIS
|
PER | ZOL | MUG | ||
Fulvio Ballabio | Ret | Ret | 14 | Ret | ||||||||||||
Guido Daccò | Ret | Ret | 15 | |||||||||||||
Richard Dallest | Ret | Ret | Ret | 8 | 7 | Ret | 8 | |||||||||
1984 | Merzario M84 | BMW | SIL | HOC | THR | VAL
|
MUG | PAU | HOC | MIS
|
PER | DON | BRH | |||
Stefano Livio | 10 | 13 | 12 | Ret | 13 | Ret | ||||||||||
Aldo Bertuzzi | Ret | 12 | DNS | |||||||||||||
Max Busslinger | 10 |
References
- ^ a b c d e f Profile at F1 Rejects Archived July 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Brown, Allen (12 June 2018). "Merzario A3 history". www.oldracingcars.com. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- ^ a b David Hodges, "A-Z of Grand Prix Cars", Crowood, 2001, pp.170.
- ^ "1979 Spanish GP - Qualification". chicanef1.com. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
- ^ "Possessed by the will to carry on". 8w.forix.com. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
- ^ "1979 French GP - Qualification". chicanef1.com. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
- ^ "Possessed by the will to carry on". 8w.forix.com. Retrieved February 7, 2016.
- ^ "1979 Italian GP - Qualification". chicanef1.com. Retrieved February 7, 2016.