It’s that time of the week again: time for us to look at the past teams that made an exit from the sport of Formula One, having scored no points. This week, we remember Automobiles Martini.
Renato Martini and Bill Knight teamed up to take control of the Winfield Racing School at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in France. The duo entered a car into Formula Three in 1968 and after some success in the series moved to Formula Renault, where they were able to win 200 of the 280 races over a 10 year period. The pair also ran a car in Formula Three, but were not as successful in the series.
In 1978, the Automobiles Martini entrant appeared in Formula One using a car powered by a Ford Cosworth engine. It was with this car that René Arnoux would make his Formula One debut. The team had financial backing from Elf, RMO and Silver Match.
The team’s first Formula One entry was the 1978 South African Grand Prix, although the car didn’t qualify because it couldn’t keep up without the ground effect aerodynamic technology that the other teams of the era were making use of. With more entrants in the 1978 Monaco Grand Prix, Arnoux wasn’t able to pre-qualify the car there either.
The Belgian Grand Prix was much more successful for the team, as they made it to the grid and they weren’t even the last car on the grid. Arnoux drove the car from 19th on the grid to a ninth place finish only two laps behind the leader. The car finished ahead of four other running cars.
The car was originally entered into the Spanish Grand Prix, but the team withdrew and instead returned to action for their home Grand Prix in France. Arnoux qualified for 18th on the grid in front of his home crowd. He gained four positions before the end of the race, finishing just a single lap behind the race leader, Mario Andretti.
Unfortunately, the car was extremely slow around the Hockenheimring at the German Grand Prix, meaning that Martini would be one of the two cars that did not pre-qualify for the event. However, Arnonx was able to match his previous result from the Belgian Grand Prix, finishing ninth in the Austrian Grand Prix. However, the car was both last on the starting grid and last of the running cars.
The car’s final race was the Dutch Grand Prix. Arnoux got the car on the grid, but it didn’t make it to the end of the race, suffering a mechanical failure just past halfway. After the race, the sponsorship money dried up and the team was unable to continue their Formula One activities. Arnoux earned a drive with Surtees for the rest of the season, eventually landing a seat on Renault the following season.
Although the team was never able to collect a single point from Formula One, Martini returned to Formula 3 and Formula Renault after their F1 exit. With success in Formula 3, the company also entered into Formula 2.
Points are a difficult thing to obtain in Formula One. In this weekly series, we will look back the past teams who gave it their all, but fell short.
Points are a difficult thing to obtain in Formula One. In this weekly series, we will look back the past teams who gave it their all, but fell short.
