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F1 cars that were never on 'Track's
Formula One or F1 is the most interesting, exciting and popular of all motor sports in the world. This highly ranked motor sport, F1, has a fan following in every nook and corner of the world. The racing cars taking part in the Formula One have a unique place in it selves. All the F1 cars are built specially with precision to prove itself in the track. But there is few such racing cars that were built but could never make it to the racing tracks. We have given you below the names of such cars which couldn’t make it on the Grid.
McLaren-Mercedes MP4/18
This was one of the best built models that was supposed to make its debut in 2003 Grand Prix, but was pulled back as it failed in the FIA crash test and by the time a solution was found to rectify it; the other cars had already overtaken it. This model was expected to beat the Ferrari in the 2003 Gran Prix.
The car designed by Adrian Newey, received outstanding appreciation for its design. The nose of the car was designed so narrowly that it gave the racing car a resemblance of an ‘anteater’. But this quality was not enough to enter the racing tracks of Formula One. During the crash test, test drivers for McLaren-Mercedes, Alexander Wurz and Kimi Raikkonen suffered massive thrust inside the car. This racing car which was powered by a 3.0-litre V10 engine also lacked consistency with the narrow side pods obstructing the heat rejection from the engine. With these ever surfacing lists of problems, this car was not at a match for Raikkonen neither could be trusted with challenging Michael Schumacher or the Ferrari. No contestant was ready to take the risk with MP4/18.
But this was the not the end of anything, the failure of the model influenced the building of next generation of McLarens. The inspiration to build another racing car with perfection began with MP4/19, but unfortunately this model too did not bring any good luck to the McLaren F1 team. Later the revised and upgraded version of the car was developed which turned the team’s destiny around by winning in the 2004 race.
The car designed by Adrian Newey, received outstanding appreciation for its design. The nose of the car was designed so narrowly that it gave the racing car a resemblance of an ‘anteater’. But this quality was not enough to enter the racing tracks of Formula One. During the crash test, test drivers for McLaren-Mercedes, Alexander Wurz and Kimi Raikkonen suffered massive thrust inside the car. This racing car which was powered by a 3.0-litre V10 engine also lacked consistency with the narrow side pods obstructing the heat rejection from the engine. With these ever surfacing lists of problems, this car was not at a match for Raikkonen neither could be trusted with challenging Michael Schumacher or the Ferrari. No contestant was ready to take the risk with MP4/18.
But this was the not the end of anything, the failure of the model influenced the building of next generation of McLarens. The inspiration to build another racing car with perfection began with MP4/19, but unfortunately this model too did not bring any good luck to the McLaren F1 team. Later the revised and upgraded version of the car was developed which turned the team’s destiny around by winning in the 2004 race.
Lola-Ford T97/30
This F1 car, Lola-Ford T97/30, tried to enter the 1997 Gran Prix race but failed the quality test. In mid 1990s, the T95/30 was developed based on the 1995 F1 car build specification. The interesting part in this car was that this racing car did not have any air box on its engine. Then the team in 1997 decided to build another model called T95/30 which carried a conventional design. The team made it to the first race but it was too late before they discovered just how ridiculously slow the car was: In qualifying, driver Vincenzo Sospiri qualified at 1'40.972 - 11.6s slower than Jacques Villeneuve’s pole position time. Under the 1997 rules, this meant that neither car failed to qualify, as all drivers had to lap with 107% of the pole position time. Lola-Ford T97/30 never raced again, thanks to the anticipated backing from MasterCard which had fallen through and there was no money left.
DAMS GD-01
In an attempt to bring in a French team into the Formula One circuit, the DAMS team started racing and developing a racing car. The then French F1 teams, Ligier and Larrousse were struggling hard with their own set of problems. Therefore came the DAMS GD-01 car built by the DAMS team, but this car failed to meet the F1 regulations of 1994. Powered by Cosworth V8 engine, the model was enhanced with sufficient cooling but uninteresting and conservative aerodynamics. But during the winter of 1994/5 Larrousse cars found itself in trouble and a tie-up with the DAMS F1 team was imminent to allow Larrousse to use its cars. But sadly the two teams never came to a formal agreement on certain conditions laid out by each of the teams and therefore curtains dropped over both of the teams F1 ambitions. Larrousse just exited from the scene and DAMS though never made it into F1, it still remains a competitive force in GP2 and A1 Grand Prix.
Dome F105
In early 1992, Honda which was involved in supplying engines to the F1 races suddenly pulled back and there was speculation that Honda was planning to enter F1 racing. The speculations had been confirmed, as Honda developed several F1 car prototypes projects and had started testing them before they had canned all their F1 projects that year. In 1996 Dome (pronounced ‘Doh-mu’) began testing its own F1 car and, as it featured a Mugen-Honda engine, suspicions were again aroused that this would be Honda’s return to F1. One-time F1 racer Marco Apicella and Shinji Nakano (who would make his F1 debut in 1997) tested the F105 in 1996. But later that year their only car caught fire while testing at Suzuka. Although the driver escaped, the F105 car was destroyed as there were no marshals nearby to tend the fire. Lacking the budget to build replacement, Dome’s hopes of racing were crushed. Another unraced F1 car was consigned to the history books in the pages of F1 history.
Lotus 88
Lotus 88 was a ground-breaking F1 car which was designed by Colin Chapman, Peter Wright, Tony Rudd and Martin Ogilvie of Team Lotus. The car was launched in 1981 and was built with ‘twin chassis’ design. It means there was two chassis which was one below another. But this was not accepted and was against FIA rules. It was termed as illegal and Lotus 88 was removed form the F1 racing.
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