Also looking ahead to the 1985 Formula 1 World Championship season, the Osella Squadra Corse team continued to follow its policy of building single-seaters "economically" and without unnecessary waste. Enzo Osella once again relied on Giuseppe Petrotta for the development of the new FA1G, an engineer who had been working at the Volpiano company for years and whose only prior experience with Formula 1 cars consisted of assembling Alfa Romeo-derived components for the FA1F used by Osella in 1984.
 |
| OSELLA FA1G, Huub Rothengatter Brands Hatch, European GP 1985 |
His task was limited to updating the 1984 FA1F, making a few modifications to chassis number 004. The wheelbase was extended by 85 millimeters, and the layout and positioning of the radiators were altered, placing them further forward to allow for a more tapered rear section. Shifting the radiating masses forward required the Turin-based engineer to extend the side pods forward as well, while at the rear he revised the suspension layout to better manage airflow, though he retained the original Alfa Romeo-derived push-rod configuration.
 |
| OSELLA FA1F, Piercarlo Ghinzani Jacarepaguà, Brazilian GP 1985 |
In short, this is the usual low-budget genesis of the new Osella FA1G, which was used by the small Italian team not only during the 1985 season, but also throughout 1986 and the beginning of 1987. The FA1G was equipped with the Alfa Romeo 890T V8 turbo engine in its original 1983 configuration, without any of the later updates found only in the official engines used by the Euroracing team. The gearbox was a Hewland unit, originally modified by Alfa Romeo technicians.
 |
| OSELLA FA1G, Huub Rothengatter Zandvoort, Dutch GP 1985 |
After starting the season with the older FA1F, from the Canadian Grand Prix onwards, Piercarlo Ghinzani, once again the team's sole driver, debuted the new FA1G, which yielded worse results than the already disappointing FA1F. The high fuel consumption of the Milanese V8 turbo forced the Osella team to significantly detune the engine to avoid running out of fuel. The poor performance of the Pirelli tires fitted to the Turin-based cars further contributed to a very disappointing season.
 |
| OSELLA FA1G, Huub Rothengatter Brands Hatch, European GP 1985 |
Only toward the end of the championship, with the arrival of Dutch driver Huub Rothengatter, who replaced Ghinzani starting with the German Grand Prix, did the team manage its only decent result of 1985: a seventh-place finish in the season finale in Australia. The Australian result, however, was an isolated and unexpected success in a season plagued by mechanical failures and assorted misfortunes.
Comments
Post a Comment