Formula 1’s biggest failures

Andrea Sassetti clearly didn’t think his Formula 1 project through very carefully, in fact the story of the team that bore his name and the debacle that it represented defies belief. It’s one of those where we think: “you couldn’t have scripted it…”

Let’s be honest, Sassetti wasn’t exactly Enzo Ferrari to start off with. He was an Italian shoe manufacturer with aspirations above his station and when the Coloni team came on the market in 1991 he decided that it was time to launch himself into the major leagues.

It is worth mentioning that Formula 1 in the early 1990’s was a very different beast to what it is today. Now you have to apply for one of the limited positions on the grid. You must demonstrate the ability to be competitive and show the authorities that there is some longevity in your plans. Back then there was none of this and that suited people like Sassetti. Of course, there were some successes along the way, take Jordan Grand PrixJordan GPUnited Kingdom, 1990 > 200410 models
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for example, but really they were few and far between.

So, free of any/many constraints Sassetti parted with £8 million and set about renaming the outdated Coloni’s as Andrea Moda’s. He took the existing chassis (the same Coloni C4 that had failed spectacularly the previous season) and set about getting some publicity. At this time Formula 1 teams sprung up like weeds and most of them were dealt with accordingly as the financial abyss set in double-time. So, what did Sassetti do? Just like any self respecting Italian businessman he put a naked lady on his glossy brochure and his girlfriend stood at the door to the motorhome fending off intruders or possibly attracting photographers…probably the latter.

So, with the publicity sorted would the team be any good? Er, no, not really…in fact it went from bad to worse.

With the recovering Alex Caffi signed up alongside Enrico Bertaggia the team set off to Kylami to attempt to pre-qualify. They would have probably failed anyway but the new team didn’t even get the chance to do that.

Let’s reverse a bit – yes, the ‘new’ bit was the catch. Sassetti claimed that he had merely taken over Coloni’s entry but the stewards thought differently and asked for another $100,000. So, that was the end of Kylami.

Sassetti then made a wise decision and decided to ditch the Coloni chassis and he commissioned Nick Wirth to build him a new one. Sassetti bought the designs for Wirth’s aborted effort to enter Formula 1 with BMWBMWGermany, 1918 > present87 models
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and two chassis were hurriedly prepared for action…unbelievably in time for Mexico. However, the entry was withdrawn, citing freight delays, and the authorities started becoming increasingly unamused by the Italian entry.

Was this in any way Sassetti’s fault? Not according to him it wasn’t, so when Caffi and Bertaggia made their displeasure known Sassetti fired them and brought in the aging Roberto Moreno and the erstwhile Top Gear ‘Stig’ (he was the black one) Perry McCarthy. These two actually had some talent and Sassetti also had a healthy list of sponsors at this point so maybe the debacle could be recovered?

Not a bit of it! McCarthy’s superlicence was taken away prior to pre-qualifying at Interlagos and Moreno was 15 seconds off the pace in the other car. In truth McCarthy’s exclusion was a useful distraction as the second chassis wasn’t even close to being track ready anyway.

Then, it got even worse for poor old Perry when Bertaggia came groveling back, but this time with $1 million to sweeten the deal. Perry was already signed though so Sassetti had to stick with him. The Italian had one barely serviceable car, another which wasn’t driveable and a pilot he didn’t want…and no $1million either.

Perry actually made it out of the pitlane in Imola, but only by 18 yards unfortunately and then the car was given to Moreno anyway, who did 3 laps, blew up and was 10 seconds off the pace anyway. In San Marino Perry did eight laps and Moreno almost pre-qualified! Then in Monaco he did pre-qualify! And then he made it into the race (Perry is not worth talking about at this point) before completing 11 laps and making it into 19th place…before blowing up. Still, it was a major improvement.

There were high hopes for Canada, obviously, but it all went wrong. Sassetti’s nightclub was burned to the ground in a suspected case of arson and he was shot at as he ran from the flames. Then, he turned up in Canada to discover that the Judd engines had not been delivered! Sassetti claimed this cost him $1million (which was clearly nonsense) and launched a scathing attack on FOCA. Andrea Moda borrowed one engine for Moreno but he was 15 seconds off the pace and the grid set off to France.

Then there was a blockade in France and the trucks were delayed getting to Magny Cours. Everyone made it except…well, it’s obvious by now isn’t it?

By Silverstone the team’s car was pretty much just plain black as the sponsors disappeared in droves and McCarthy only managed to get out on a dry track with wet tyres. Then in Hungary he was allowed 45 seconds of track time!

The FIA was pretty fed up by now of the debacle and ordered Sassetti to have a proper go at running a car for McCarthy. Moreno ended up 28th fastest at Spa and McCarthy was a further 10 seconds further back before he was halted by a steering arm failure as he went through Eau Rouge (scary!) – and the team already knew about that fault!!!!!!

Anyway, it all became irrelevant on the Saturday because Sassetti was arrested at the circuit by the Belgian police on allegations of fraud and the team was banned from the championship for bringing F1 into disrepute.

The Andrea Moda Mechanics, drivers and managers were jobless and it was probably better that way. Sassetti was, and remains a bit of a joke when it comes to Formula 1.