This is an exclusive project of historic information from the world of Formula One. On The Grid chronicles the history of drivers with all Formula One teams dating back to 1950 to the present.

This series of information are only possible due to the hard work and support of Clive Branson – www.provocadv.com. We hope you will find it of interest and informative as to how Formula One drivers’ careers developed and ended.

ONYX RACING

TEAM: ONYX RACING
NATIONALITY: GB
INCEPTION: 1989-1990
COMMENT: Onyx was a motor racing team and later Formula One constructor from Britain, founded by Mike Earle and Jo Chamberlain. Prior to entering Formula One, Onyx ran March Formula Two cars, taking over responsibility for the works F2 team towards the end of the formula’s existence. They moved up to Formula 3000 before finding the funding to graduate to F1 with a Cosworth-powered car designed by Alan Jenkins.
The team was initially funded by the colourful Jean-Pierre Van Rossem and his Moneytron product, but van Rossem’s backing proved to be illusory. The team participated in 26 Grands Prix, making a total of 52 entries. They achieved 1 podium with Stefan Johansson and scored 6 championship points. After van Rossem’s departure, Onyx was owned by the Middlebridge Group (also owners at that time of Brabham) and then sold to Swiss businessman and car manufacturer Peter Monteverdi, who renamed the team after himself. Monteverdi, who had last built racing cars in the early 1960s, decided that he could do better than the design team. They suffered from several organisational mistakes, including fitting a differential the wrong way round at one point, and even taking spares from Monteverdi’s collection of sports cars. It was rumoured Monteverdi was also ordering the drivers how to set up their cars. The team withdrew from Formula 1 just before the 1990 Belgian Grand Prix. They failed to score any points in 1990. Despite this a car for 1991 was built and can be viewed on the website f1rejects.com. The car was never raced.

YEAR NAME NAT. POINTS/RESULTS
Moneytron Onyx-Ford (10th 6 pts.)
1989 Stefan Johansson S 12th (6 pts.)
1989 Bertrand Gachot B NIL (Coloni-Ford)
1989 JJ Lehto FIN NIL

Monteverdi Onyx-Ford (NIL)
1990 Stefan Johansson S NIL (AGS-Ford)
1990 Gregor Foitek CH NIL (CART)
1990 JJ Lehto FIN NIL (Dallara-Judd)

OSELLA

TEAM: OSELLA
NATIONALITY: I
INCEPTION: 1980-1990
COMMENT: Osella is an Italian racing car manufacturer and former Formula One team based in Volpiano near Turin, Italy. They participated in 132 Grands Prix between 1980 and 1990. They achieved two points finishes and scored 5 championship points.

YEAR NAME NAT. POINTS/RESULTS
Osella-Ford (NIL)
1980 Eddie Cheever USA NIL (Tyrrell-Ford)
Osella-Ford
1981 Beppe Gabbiani I NIL (Formula 2/Sports Car racing)
1981 Giorgio Francia I NIL (CIVT/DTM)
1981 Jean-Pierre Jarier F NIL
1981 Miguel Angel Guerra ARG NIL (Formula 2)
1981 Piercarlo Ghinzani I NIL
Osella-Ford (12th 3 pts.)
1982 Jean-Pierre Jarier F 20th (3 pts.) (Gitanes Ligier-Ford)
1982 Riccardo Paletti I NIL (Although not having achieved much in the lower class racings, Paletti joined the uncompetitive team Osella in 1982. He admitted that Formula 1 struck him with a little bit of fear, but his sponsor wanted him to move up and Riccardo didn’t want to miss his opportunity. The sponsor was his father, Arietto Paletti, a rich Milanese businessman, who had made his fortune with a building company and importing Pioneer Hi-Fi equipment to Italy. Securing the second seat in the team had cost $1,000,000 and his teammate was the more experienced Frenchman Jean-Pierre Jarier. At least in one aspect Paletti was ahead of his time in F1 because he travelled with a personal medical adviser who was monitoring his blood pressure and heartbeat with small sensors attached to his body during testing and practice sessions. His diet was constantly adapted to the results. Few people took this professional approach seriously at the time. At the start of the Canadian G.P., Paletti slammed into the back of Pironi’s stalled Ferrari, at 180 mph, crushing the Italian. As marshalls tried to extract the unconscious Paletti out of car, spilt fuel ignited. Although Paletti didn’t receive burns, by the time he was evacuated and brought to hospital, he had died. The whole scene was witnessed by his mother Gina, with whom he was supposed to visit New York in the days after the Grand Prix, where they would celebrate his 24th birthday.)
Osella-Ford/Alfa Romeo (NIL)
1983 Piercarlo Ghinzani I NIL
1983 Corrado Fabi I NIL (Brabham-Ford)
Osella-Alfa Romeo (11th 2pts.)
1984 Piercarlo Ghinzani I 19th (2 pt.s)
1984 Jo Gartner A NIL (Le Mans Series/American Le Mans Series. Whilst contesting the 1986 24 Hours of Le Mans at 2:10 am on the Sunday, Gartner’s car suffered a mechanical failure and turned hard left into the barriers on the Mulsanne Straight at 160mph. The car somersaulted down the track and caught fire resting on the barriers on the opposite side of the track. Gartner was killed on impact.)
Osella-Alfa Romeo (NIL)
1985 Piercarlo Ghinzani I NIL (Switched to Toleman-Hart mid-season)
1985 Huub Rothengatter NL NIL (Zakspeed)
Osella-Alfa Romeo (NIL)
1986 Christian Danner D 18th (1 pt.) (Zakspeed)
1986 Piercarlo Ghinzani I NIL (Loto Ligier-Megatron)
1986 Allen Berg CAN NIL (Sports Car Racing/Trans-AM Series/DTM/Formula 2/He won the Indy Lights Panamericana title in 2001 as a driver-owner before retiring from racing. He currently operates Allen Berg Racing Schools in Calgary.)
1986 Alex Caffi I NIL
Osella-Alfa Romeo (NIL)
1987 Alex Caffi I NIL (Dallara-Cosworth)
1987 Gabriele Tarquini I NIL (Coloni-Cosworth)
1987 Franco Forini I NIL (Formula 3)
Osella-Alfa Romeo (NIL)
1988 Nicola Larini I NIL
Osella-Ford (NIL)
1989 Piercarlo Ghinzani I NIL (Team Ghinzani, Formula 3)
1989 Nicola Larini I NIL (Ligier-Ford)
Osella-Ford (NIL)
1990 Olivier Grouillard F NIL (Fondmetal-Cosworth)

PACIFIC TEAM

TEAM: PACIFIC TEAM
NATIONALITY: GB
INCEPTION: 1994-1995
COMMENT:

YEAR NAME NAT. POINTS/RESULTS
Pacific-Ilmor (NIL)
1994 Paul Belmondo F NIL (GT Racing. He started his own team, Paul Belmondo Racing in FIA GT Championship and Le Mans Endurance Series before folding in 2007.)
1994 Bertrand Gachot B NIL
Pacific-Ford (NIL)
1995 Bertrand Gachot B NIL (Gachot has concentrated on his business interests which include marketing “Hype”, a high-energy beverage; he still keeps his contacts with Formula One and owns an F1 website. He spends his time with his family in southern Spain.)
1995 Giovanni Lavaggi I NIL (Minardi)
1995 Jean-Denis Deletraz CH NIL (Sports Car Racing)
1995 Andrea Montermini I NIL (Forti-Ford)

PARNELLI

TEAM: PARNELLI
NATIONALITY: USA
INCEPTION: 1974-1976
COMMENT: Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing, commonly referred to simply as Parnelli or VPJ, was a motor racing constructor and team from the USA. The team was formed in 1969 by former USAC racer Parnelli Jones and his business partner Velco “Vel” Miletich. Parnelli was initially solely concerned with USAC racing, where success came quickly.
Parnelli secured the services of ex-Team Lotus designer Maurice Philippe and driver Mario Andretti for USAC racing in the early 1970s, and in 1974 decided to move into Formula One racing, with financial support from tire manufacturer Firestone. After a brief foray into Formula One at the end of the 1974 season, Vel’s Parnelli Jones mounted a full campaign in 1975. Their Parnelli VPJ4 car owed much to Philippe’s Lotus 72 design. It appeared for the North American races at the end of the 1974 season and was gradually developed through 1975. However, Firestone’s decision to quit racing at the end of 1974 meant that a major partner was lost. Jones was unable to find a replacement title sponsor and despite improvements made to the car the team folded only three races into the 1976 season.
Andretti only learned of the Formula One team’s future from journalist Chris Economaki, as he sat in the car on the grid for the Long Beach Grand Prix. This led to some bad feeling between Andretti and Jones, and Andretti returned to Lotus for the remainder of the season. In total, Vel’s Parnelli Jones participated in 16 Grands Prix and scored 6 championship points.

YEAR NAME NAT. POINTS/RESULTS
Parnelli-Ford (NIL)
1974 Mario Andretti USA NIL
Parnelli-Ford (10th 5 pts.)
1975 Mario Andretti USA 10th (5 pts.)
Parnelli-Ford (13th 1 pt.)
1976 Mario Andretti USA 13th (1 pt.) (John Player Special Lotus-Cosworth)

PENSKE

TEAM: PENSKE
NATIONALITY: USA
INCEPTION: 1974-1977
COMMENT: Penske Championship Racing is a racing team that competes in the Indy Racing League, ALMS, and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, Formula One and CART. Penske Racing is a division of Penske Corporation, and is owned and chaired by Roger Penske. The team president is Tim Cindric.

YEAR NAME NAT. POINTS/RESULTS
Penske-Ford
1971 Mark Donohue USA 16th (4 pts.)
Citibank Penske-Ford
1974 Mark Donohue USA NIL
Citibank Penske-Ford (15th 4 pts.)
1975 Mark Donohue USA 15th (4 pts.) Donohue had recently arrived in Austria for the Austrian Grand Prix following the successful closed-course speed record attempt at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama just a few days earlier. During a practice session for the race, Donohue lost control of his March after a tire failed sending him careening into the catch fencing. A track marshal was killed by debris from the accident, but Donohue didn’t appear to be injured significantly. However, a resulting headache worsened and after going to the hospital of Graz the next day, Donohue lapsed into a coma from a brain hemorrhage and died.
1975 John Watson GB NIL
Citibank Penske-Ford (20th 5 pts.)
1976 John Watson GB 7th (20 pts.) (Martini Brabham-Alfa Romeo)
1976 Boy Hayje NL NIL (RAM-March-Cosworth)
Citibank Penske-Ford (NIL)
1977 Danny Ongais USA NIL (Tissot Ensign-Cosworth)
1977 Hans Binder A NIL (ATS-Cosworth)
1977 Hans Heyer D NIL (Heyer retired in 1989 after 999 races in 30 years. In 2004, Volkswagen director Kris Nissen found out about the number and invited Hans Heyer (and his hat) to drive his 1000th race in the ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup at the Norisring against youngsters.)

PORSCHE

TEAM: PORSCHE
NATIONALITY: D
INCEPTION: 1957-1965
COMMENT:

YEAR NAME NAT. POINTS/RESULTS
Porsche
1957 Carel Godin de Beaufort F NIL
1957 Edgar Barth D NIL
1957 Umberto Maglioli I NIL (Retired from F.1., but won the Carrera Panamericana in ‘54)
Porsche
1958 Carel Godin de Beaufort F NIL
1958 Edgar Barth D NIL
Porsche
1959 Carel Godin de Beaufort F NIL (Maserati)
1959 Harry Blanchard USA NIL (His only Grand Prix appearance came at the wheel of a Porsche RSK Formula 2 car in the first US Grand Prix at Sebring. He finished seventh and last, four laps behind the winner Bruce McLaren. A few months later he died when his Porsche sportscar overturned during the 1000 km Buenos Aires race.)
1959 Wolfgang von Trips A NIL (Ferrari)
Porsche
1960 Hans Herrmann D 28th (1 pt.)
1960 Edgar Barth D NIL (Cooper-Climax)
1960 Fred Gamble USA NIL (Retired from F.1)
1960 Masten Gregory USA NIL (Cooper-Climax)
Porsche
1961 Dan Gurney USA 4th (21 pts.)
1961 Jo Bonnier S 15th (3 pts.)
1961 Carel Godin de Beaufort F NIL
1961 Hans Herrmann D NIL (Retired from F.1)
1961 Wolfgang Seidel D NIL (Emeryson-Climax)
Porsche
1962 Ben Pon NL NIL (Since his retirement in the sports arena, Pon has turned his attention to the wine trade. He is now known for his Bernardus Winery in Carmel, California and owns the oldest wine negotiating business in the Netherlands.
1962 Dan Gurney USA 5th (15 pts.) (Lotus-BRM)
1962 Carel Godin de Beaufort F 16th (2 pts.)
1962 Heini Walter CH NIL (Retired from F.1)
1962 Jo Bonnier S 15th (3 pts.) (Cooper-Climax)
1962 Nino Vaccarella I NIL (Ferrari)
Porsche
1963 Gerhard Mitter D 12th (3 pts.) (Lotus-Climax)
1963 Carel Godin de Beaufort F 14th (2 pts.)
Porsche
1964 Carel Godin de Beaufort F NIL (Always a Porsche devotee (he only drove two races in anything else) he was a familiar sight at both Championship and non-Championship races in his orange Porsche 718, bought from the Rob Walker Racing Team. With stereotypical aristocratic eccentricity he often drove without shoes, and at his final race in was even seen taking practice laps wearing a Beatles wig, rather than his helmet. He died after an accident at the Nürburgring, during practice for the 1964 German Grand Prix. He was thrown out of the car and suffered massive injuries to his head, chest and legs. Initially de Beaufort was taken to a local hospital, but on the arrival of his family he was swiftly transferred to a major neurological hospital in Cologne where he died from his injuries three days after the accident.)

PROTOS

TEAM: PROTOS
NATIONALITY: GB
INCEPTION: 1967-1967
COMMENT: The Protos was a wingless Formula 2 racing car that appeared in 1967. Powered by the then-standard Ford-Cosworth 1600cc FVA-engine, it was noticeable for its slippery aerodynamic Frank Costin design, with an almost-enclosed ‘bubble’ canopy over the cockpit and a chassis partially made of the very light but fragile plywood. Although fairly quick on fast tracks, it didn’t become a front runner and did not score wins during the European F2 season. Drivers included Brian Hart & Pedro Rodriguez.

YEAR NAME NAT. POINTS/RESULTS
Protos-
1967 Brian Hart GB NIL (He retired to work as an engineer for de Havilland aircraft, then joined in the construction of Cosworth engines and on to turbo engines in the early ‘80s. Over his career, he supplied engines for RAM, Haas Lola, Tyrrell and Jordan. In 1998, Hart turned to Minardi and began working on another V10 design, but he was never able to fully finance the project. When Arrows’ owner, Tom Walkinshaw, purchased Brian Hart Limited later that year, the injection of capital turned that design into the Arrows V10. The deal was marred by legal action taken over money that was allegedly owed and Brian Hart parted company with Arrows and Formula One before the end of the year. Arrows itself went into bankruptcy in 2002.)
1967 Kurt Ahrens Jr. D NIL (Caltex Brabham-Repco)