Over the last couple of days, I've been looking for F1 teams that never actually made it onto the grid at all; teams so bad (or badly run) (or just turned down by Eccletron) that they weren't even rejects. So far, I've come up with the following, but the information going back any further is pretty scarce.
Lola (as extensively profiled on this site, and also entry refused for 2010)
Stefan GP (repeatedly refused in 1996, 1997, 2010, 2011, 2015 despite having cars in 2010)
Honda (entry not made in 2000, despite a midfield-standard car being built)
Phoenix F1 (entry refused for the 2002 season, despite having cars)
Prodrive (ruled out due to customer cars not being allowed in 2008, entry refused for 2010)
Minardi 2.0 (entry refused for 2008)
Jordan 2.0 (entry refused for 2008)
Direxiv (entry refused for 2008)
Carlin (entry refused for 2008)
Epsilon Euskadi (entry refused for 2010, 2011)
N.Technology (entry refused for 2010)
March 2.0 (entry refused for 2010)
Brabham 2.0 (entry refused for 2010)
Team Lotus (yet another Lotus entrant, but entry refused for 2010)
Superfund (entry refused for 2010)
myf1dream.com (entry inevitably refused for 2010)
Ray Mallock (entry refused for 2010)
USF1 (entry granted for 2010, but couldn't produce a car; entry refused for 2011 as Cypher)
ART Grand Prix (entry refused for 2011)
Villeneuve-Durango (entry refused for 2011)
Scorpion Racing (entry refused for 2013)
PURE (entry as an engine manufacturer for 2014 approved, but nobody bought their engines)
VW Group (entry as an engine manufacturer for 2016 fell through after emissions scandal)
All the same, I'm certain that's not an extensive list as pre-2008 information is pretty sketchy. Any additional knowledge would be greatly appreciated
DAMS had plans to enter F1 in 1995 and they had even car ready but after all they didn't have enough money. Erik Comas, Emmanuel Collard and Jan Lammers tested.
There was also team called First Racing who had entered for 1989 but then failed crash test and withdrew before season-opener. Gabriele Tarquini was supposed to drive and he then jumped to AGS after Streiff was paralysed.
Before HRT there was another Spanish outfit who tried to get into F1 - called Bravo. Failed to materialise for 1993. I believe Jordi Gene was supposed to drive.
Bleu wrote:There was also team called First Racing who had entered for 1989 but then failed crash test and withdrew before season-opener. Gabriele Tarquini was supposed to drive and he then jumped to AGS after Streiff was paralysed.
Before HRT there was another Spanish outfit who tried to get into F1 - called Bravo. Failed to materialise for 1993. I believe Jordi Gene was supposed to drive.
Both teams aren't rejects on their own rights, yet are both related to some well-known rejectful experiences: Bravo had bought the remaining assets of the glorious Andrea Moda team, while the very same chassis FIRST had failed crash tests with was fitted with Rocchi's W12 engine, getting "life" as Life...
As for engine manufacturers, Isuzu had built an engine for Lotus in 1991. It was tested at Silverstone and showed a quite promising pace, but the Japanese company backed off at the last minute.
And the list is missing Don Pentecost's various attempts at an all-American Formula 1 team.
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Ataxia wrote:
Londoner wrote:Something I've thought about - what happens to our canon should we have a worldwide recession or some other outside event?
Aislabie wrote:Over the last couple of days, I've been looking for F1 teams that never actually made it onto the grid at all; teams so bad (or badly run) (or just turned down by Eccletron) that they weren't even rejects. So far, I've come up with the following, but the information going back any further is pretty scarce.
[list][*]Lola (as extensively profiled on this site, and also entry refused for 2010).
Any additional knowledge would be greatly appreciated
Of course, of all the potential teams and entries that you mention, this is the one team that actually took part in a qualifying session (but obviously DNQed), and was actually present in Brazil with the equipment, but didn't unpack there. Hence their eligibility, as I understand it, for Reject status.
watka wrote:I find it amusing that whilst you're one of the more openly Christian guys here, you are still first and foremost associated with an eye for the ladies!
dinizintheoven wrote:GOOD CHRISTIANS do not go to jail. EVERYONE ON FORMULA ONE REJECTS should be in jail.
Middlebridge. It was essentially a Benetton B186 intended for use in the 1987 season, but I think it violated the Concorde agreement so it was denied.
There was GLAS, which never materialized and kinda sorta became Lambo iirc? The Larrousse LH95, March's 1993 entry perhaps also count, the aborted DOME F1 project, and the Honda RC100/RC101 twins (I'm unsure of the last one because I don't think it was ever seriously intended to compete.)
SuzukiSwift wrote:the Honda RC100/RC101 twins (I'm unsure of the last one because I don't think it was ever seriously intended to compete.)
It's indeed unclear, but it seems that Postlethwaite's sudden death during the tests at Barcelona played a role in the project being finally aborted.
The RA100/101 project took place in the early 90s. The Postlethwaite-headed project was RA099.
The reason why the early 90s project never really got off was that Honda didn't have any real interest in it. They simply let their engineers fiddle around in their spare time...
Eurosport broadcast for the 1990 Mexican GP prequalifying: "The Life, it looked very lifeless yet again... in fact Bruno did one, slow lap"
When you see it listed like this and the amounts refused entry I can't help but feel why not let them in, especially the large amounts in '08 '10. If they can afford to produce a car and get moderately skilled drivers then why not? It's their money they're wasting if they never qualify. It's the modern day closed shop that grates personally. Haas have shown that you can enter and make an impact so why not? Damn you Bernie and your money grabbing power crazy ways.
It does annoy me that they have 'windows' where you can apply. Just have them open all the time and if an entrant is within 107% time and the grid is less then 26 entrants, they qualify. If not on a regular basis they are probably going to fold anyway. Just be nice to do away with 107% time because we would have more entrants then grid slots and the slowest would not qualify. Plus we would not be in a situation where talented drivers would not be at risk of not being able to race in f1 because teams would need drivers.
The problem is the larger teams complaining about lapping backmarkers and those backmarkers bringing the sport into disrepute. Both of which are total rubbish as backmarkers these days are far more compliant than the likes of Arnoux and Grouillard and those backmarkers still get virtually no TV coverage (to the extent that I was forgetting about Manor's existence towards the end of last season).
watka wrote:The problem is the larger teams complaining about lapping backmarkers and those backmarkers bringing the sport into disrepute. Both of which are total rubbish as backmarkers these days are far more compliant than the likes of Arnoux and Grouillard and those backmarkers still get virtually no TV coverage (to the extent that I was forgetting about Manor's existence towards the end of last season).
It didn't help that Bernie had issues with giving TV coverage time with backmarkers. I also remember that, at some point early in the season, he had requested directors to cut away whenever Manor was about to come into the image. And did they complied! They even cut away from the lead whenever they were about to lap them!
Colin Kolles on F111, 2011 HRT challenger: The car doesn't look too bad; it looks like a modern F1 car.
8W has a nice piece on the mid-90's Dome project. Failed due to lack of sponsor support in Japan and because Dome couldn't believe how quickly parts wore out at the F1 level. Their only comparable times at Suzuka were several seconds off of the DNQ pace that year too.
Professional Historian/Semi-Retired Drag Racer/Whiskey Enthusiast
"When I was still racing, I never once thought 'Oh, I can't damage the car here'." - Jolyn Palmer
Me either Jolyn, maybe that's why we're both out, eh?
Wallio wrote:8W has a nice piece on the mid-90's Dome project. Failed due to lack of sponsor support in Japan and because Dome couldn't believe how quickly parts wore out at the F1 level. Their only comparable times at Suzuka were several seconds off of the DNQ pace that year too.
Could have made several races unlike a certain "credit card" team.
ChequeredFlagNope wrote:Hmm...wasn't Scorpion Racing a failed attempt of purchasing the HRT Formula 1 Team?
I do rememebr them, there as hardly any articles about them though. Forza Rossa is in the same boat: Ex-HRT Manager Colin Kolles tried to buy Caterham in 2015, but that never got beyond talk either...
Klon wrote:What did poor André do to you for him to be insulted like that?
CaptainGetz12 wrote:I do rememebr them, there as hardly any articles about them though. Forza Rossa is in the same boat: Ex-HRT Manager Colin Kolles tried to buy Caterham in 2015, but that never got beyond talks either...
I'm sure that I have seen a few articles online saying that "Forza Rossa Racing" was one of the two teams accepted for 2015-16, the other being the Haas F1 Team, IDK what the hell happened to them?
Maybe like you said they was planning on purchasing the Caterham F1 Team so they could merge the two but that never happened due to no talks being held or maybe their was we just don't know.
Last edited by The Chicane on 26 Aug 2018, 15:25, edited 1 time in total.
CaptainGetz12 wrote:I do rememebr them, there as hardly any articles about them though. Forza Rossa is in the same boat: Ex-HRT Manager Colin Kolles tried to buy Caterham in 2015, but that never got beyond talk either...
I'm sure that I have seen a few articles online saying that "Forza Rossa Racing" was one of the two teams accepted for 2015-16, the other being the Haas F1 Team, IDK what the hell happened to them?
Maybe like you said they was planning on purchasing the Caterham F1 Team so they could merge the two but that never happened due to no talks being held or maybe their was we just don't know.
Forza Rossa was an entry to be led by Colin Kolles, and it had former Romanian health secretary Ion Bazac drumming up government support as well as the largest Ferrari importer in Romania. When Kolles got involved with Caterham, at the time I suspected that he was performing the mother of all asset strips to transfer everything worthwhile to Forza Rossa. They never formally received an entry from the FIA, so it would make sense for them to have transferred Caterham's entry over.
However, the team never came to light largely due to a crackdown on corruption in the Romanian government, and a lot of officials got put in prison. Hence, the government couldn't support the team and it just fizzled out like a Berocca.
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