After designing the excellent A3, a car that brought the Arrows team its best results during its early Formula 1 years, Tony Southgate left the team to work as a freelance consultant. In 1982, he collaborated with Teddy Yip’s Theodore Racing. This departure marked the loss of yet another founding member of Arrows, leaving Dave Wass solely responsible for designing the car for the 1982 championship.
ARROWS A4, Brian Henton
Long Beach,USA West GP 1982
The new Arrows A4 was built with an aluminum monocoque chassis, powered by the classic 2993 cc Ford-Cosworth DFV V8 engine paired with the Hewland FGA 400 gearbox. It had a wheelbase of 2705 mm and a weight of 580 kg. The car was a very basic wing-car, lacking original ideas and essentially replicating the design and technical concepts of the previous A3. Unfortunately, the advent of synthetic materials and the performance leap of major teams relegated the A4 to an inferior level, making it less competitive than its predecessor.
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| ARROWS A4, Marc Surer Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1982 |
The departure of Riccardo Patrese, the only driver capable of performing at a high level in the early ‘80s Arrows, also negatively affected the 1982 season. The main drivers were Englishman Brian Henton, arriving from the newly formed Toleman team, and Italian rookie Mauro Baldi, strongly backed by the Italian sponsor Ceramiche Ragno.
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| ARROWS A4, Mauro Baldi Brands Hatch, British GP 1982 |
The start of the season was forgettable. Baldi struggled to adapt to Formula 1, only managing some placements by mid-season. Henton, after failing to qualify twice and one retirement, was replaced after the fourth race by Swiss driver Marc Surer, who managed to bring the A4 back to midfield positions. At the end of the season, Wass introduced an updated version, the Arrows A5, in an attempt to improve performance, but it also failed to deliver results.
ARROWS A5, Marc Surer
Dijon-Prenois, Swiss GP 1982
The only differences between the A5 and the previous A4 were a shorter wheelbase (2590 mm) and a redesigned nose for better aerodynamics, along with overall weight reduction that unfortunately compromised chassis rigidity and thus performance. The season ended with just 5 points and tenth place in the Constructors’ standings, the team’s worst result in its five-year Formula 1 history.
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