The excitement that, in 1977, had driven Ambrosio, Rees, Oliver, Wass, and Southgate (whose initials form the name Arrows) to establish a team for Formula 1 gradually faded. As the original founders left one by one, only Dave Wass and Jackie Oliver were left to carry on the ambitious goal of competing in the 1985 World Championship. Despite having had sponsorship from Barclays since 1984, and now also from DeLonghi, the British team, based in Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire, northwest of London), had few new ideas for developing the new Arrows A8. The only major difference from the 1984 A7 was in the chassis.
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| ARROWS A8, Gerhard Berger Zandvoort, Dutch GP 1985 |
Abandoning the now outdated aluminum construction, the new chassis was finally made with a carbon fiber monocoque, which provided greater rigidity and allowed the BMW M12/13 L4 Turbo engine to transmit its power more effectively. Again for this season, Arrows used semi-works BMW turbos, maintained not directly by BMW but by Swiss tuner Heini Mader. While Mader did a commendable job, he had no access to proprietary information, spare parts, or engine updates, privileges reserved for Brabham, BMW’s official partner.
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| ARROWS A8, Gerhard Berger Jacarepaguà, Brazilian GP 1985 |
The A8’s mechanical components were directly inherited from the previous year’s car, while the exterior design saw slight changes. The nose remained essentially the same, but the sidepods were slightly elongated, a design trend adopted by most teams in 1985. This aimed to partially recover aerodynamic downforce lost due to the ban on the unsightly winglets previously mounted beside the rear wing.
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| ARROWS A8, Gerhard Berger Monza, Italian GP 1985 |
The limited power of the BMW-Mader engine, compared to the top competitors’ power units, restricted the performance of an otherwise well-designed car. With a wheelbase of 2794 mm, a weight of 545 kg, and a solid suspension setup, the A8 enabled the Barclays Arrows BMW Team to achieve respectable results. The highlight was Boutsen’s second-place finish at Imola, achieved under unusual circumstances: the Belgian coasted across the finish line in third place after running out of fuel just a few hundred meters from the checkered flag, and was later promoted to second after Prost was disqualified for having an underweight car.
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| ARROWS A8, Thierry Boutsen Spa-Francorchamps, Belgian GP 1985 |
Thanks to two excellent drivers, Austrian Gerhard Berger and Belgian Thierry Boutsen (retained from the previous season), Arrows finished eighth in the constructors’ standings with 14 points, their best result up to that time. This performance would only be surpassed in 1988, when the team scored 23 points.
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