For the German team Auto Technisches Spezialzubehör (ATS) the 1981 season begins with the same car already used in the previous season, but without Gustav Brunner who together with Tim Wadrop had given life to the D4 project. The usual and now classic quarrel between the owner of the ATS, Gunther Schmidt and Brunner lead the Austrian technician to seek his fortune elsewhere, leaving the German team with only Wadrop.
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| ATS HGS1 Slim Borgudd Österreichring, Austrian GP 1981 |
Schmidt does not lose heart and hires yet another technician to build the new single-seater, this time aiming high and choosing the technical director Hervé Guilpin, a French engineer who had started his experience in Formula 1 with the Ligier before becoming one of the "fathers" of the Renault Turbo RS01. Guilpin joins the already present Tim Wadrop, who holds the role of chief designer, and to consolidate the new partnership Schmidt calls the new single-seater ATS HGS1, where "HG" are the initials of the French technician and "S" the initial of the owner Schmidt.
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| ATS HGS1, Slim Borgudd Hockenheimring, German GP 1981 |
The arrival of Guilpin late in the season does not allow the French technician to be able to revolutionize the still discreet D4 designed by Brunner, even if from this season the elimination of the movable side flaps forces the two designers to find downforce in another way, and so the modifications are limited to the aesthetic part with the addition of a full-width wing applied to the nose and sides which now have two fins in front of the rear wheels to divert the flow of air towards the aileron.
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| ATS HGS1, Slim Borgudd Zandvoort, Dutch GP 1981 |
The chassis is only slightly revised and strengthened in the front area with the nose of the HGS1 which in fact has a more rounded shape, while the rest of the mechanics remain unchanged with the usual Cosworth-Hewland group pushing the car and the same suspensions as the previous car. Another return to the German team is the driver Jan Lammers who, after being fired in 1980, is recalled as the only driver to start the 1981 championship with the old D4 even if already after three races the Dutchman is again on foot to make way for a rather curious paying driver. In fact, the little Swede Tommy "Slim" Borgudd, a driver-musician who plays drums in the famous Abba pop ensemble, is hired, who in fact appears as a sponsor on the sides of the car.
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| ATS HGS1, Slim Borgudd Zolder, Belgian GP 1981 |
Borgudd brings the new HGS1 to the track and, after a difficult start made up of four non-qualifiers, takes an unexpected sixth place at Silverstone, the only important placement of the season for the rest more than anonymous. Obviously, the relationship between Schmidt and Guilpin, also accused of technical incapacity, is interrupted before the end of the season and the HGS1 is no longer developed.
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