TOLEMAN TG185 Hart Turbo

   The two Toleman team owners, Ted Toleman and Alex Hawkridge, experienced the 1985 season as a transitional year from a sporting perspective. Although the team was now owned by the Benetton Group, its entire racing structure was still managed by the British duo. To avoid losing television revenue based on the previous season's results, the cars continued to race under the Toleman name. However, at the start of the 1985 championship in Brazil, Toleman was unable to field any cars due to a seemingly small but crucial detail: the British team had no tire supply contract.

TOLEMAN TG185, Piercarlo Ghinzani
Brands Hatch, European GP 1985

   In the previous season, Toleman had abruptly terminated its agreement with Pirelli to switch, from the fourth race onward, to the more competitive Michelin tires. However, at the end of the year, the French manufacturer announced its withdrawal from Formula 1, leaving Goodyear and Pirelli as the sole suppliers. Goodyear decided to supply only those teams that already had a contract in place by the end of the 1984 season. This left Toleman with no choice but to return to the Italian manufacturer, Pirelli, which refused to supply the team due to the previous year's contractual fallout. To resolve the situation, Luciano Benetton, head of the new team and a shrewd businessman, stepped in personally. He seized the opportunity presented by the financially struggling Spirit team and acquired not only what remained of the small British outfit but also its rights to use Pirelli tires. However, these rights were limited to the supply of just one car.

TOLEMAN TG185, Piercarlo Ghinzani
Zandvoort, Dutch GP 1985

   Thus, after Spirit’s withdrawal from the championship, Toleman finally returned to the track starting from the fourth race of the season, albeit with only a single car. The driver situation was equally tumultuous: Swede Stefan Johansson, retained from the previous season, joined Ferrari as early as the second race, while Northern Irishman John Watson, poised for a sensational comeback after retiring at the end of 1983, gave up due to frustration over the unresolved tire issue.

TOLEMAN TG185, Teo Fabi
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgian GP 1985

   Eventually, when the situation was settled, Italian driver Teo Fabi was signed, a returning figure, and only from the Austrian Grand Prix onward was he joined by fellow Italian Piercarlo Ghinzani, who drove the second car. The car used by Toleman Group Motorsport in the 1985 World Championship was the Toleman TG185, essentially the same as the 1984 model but with a revised rear end. The characteristic twin rear wing, used for two seasons, was replaced by a more traditional design in compliance with the new technical regulations. The livery also changed, losing Toleman’s original colors in favor of an all-white look adorned with a multitude of world flags “United Colors of Benetton.”

TOLEMAN TG185, Teo Fabi
Zandvoort, Dutch GP 1985

   Naturally, with all the organizational turmoil, 1985 turned out to be a season without results. Nonetheless, it laid the groundwork for what would follow in the years to come. Rory Byrne and Pat Symonds became the foundation of the future “Benetton Formula,” which would welcome Flavio Briatore and Ross Brawn in 1988, followed in 1991 by the promising German driver Michael Schumacher. What began as the modest Toleman team would go on to become a top contender, turning the dream of Ted Toleman and Alex Hawkridge into a reality. In fact, a few years earlier, in 1980, during the press conference launching their Formula 1 venture, the two had stood beneath a sign that read: “Toleman Motorsport, World Champion 19..”. They weren’t too far off...