The 1987 championship, the debut season in Formula 1 for the tiny team founded by Perugia native Enzo Coloni, saw the team use the FC187 on only two occasions: a failure to qualify at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza and seven laps completed at the Spanish Grand Prix at the Jerez circuit. After these “adventures,” the Italian outfit decided to return to base and focus on developing a more competitive single-seater, at least capable of making it onto the starting grid. However, lacking the budget necessary to design a new car for 1988, which can be considered Coloni Team's first true season in Formula 1, the team’s only engineer, Roberto Ori, made minor modifications to the previous car and renamed it FC188.
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| COLONI FC188, Gabriele Tarquini Jacarepaguà, Brazilian GP 1988 |
The new car was essentially the same carbon fiber monocoque chassis from 1987, modified with a wheelbase extended by 20 mm and a redesigned front suspension. The rest of the mechanical components were carried over from the previous car, which, it should be noted, was derived from a Formula 3000 vehicle. The engine remained the Ford-Cosworth DFZ V8, which in customer form delivered only 585 hp, paired with the classic five-speed Hewland FGA gearbox.
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| COLONI FC188, Gabriele Tarquini Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1988 |
Visually, the car underwent a notable transformation that gave it an overall pleasing look, no longer resembling the experimental FC187. The familiar pointed and fairly bulky nose remained, but the sidepods had a much more refined design and even tapered toward the rear. The engine cover now fully enclosed the power unit and gearbox, extending nearly to the rear wing.
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| COLONI FC188, Gabriele Tarquini Spa-Francorchamps, Belgian GP 1988 |
Remaining true to the principle of hiring only talented drivers, in 1988 the small Coloni SpA team entrusted the only FC188 built to Italian driver Gabriele Tarquini, effectively making his Formula 1 debut after racing with Osella in the 1987 San Marino GP. Despite all the disadvantages and the high number of entries, which forced the less competitive cars to go through the hurdle of pre-qualifying, the Coloni FC188 managed to line up on the grid for eight races, even achieving some surprising results, such as eighth place at the Canadian Grand Prix. It’s worth noting that the team from Perugia, due to its limited budget, attended races with an extremely small crew, an extreme case being the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, where they showed up with only seven mechanics.
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| COLONI FC188B, Gabriele Tarquini Jerez, Spanish GP 1988 |
In the final four races of the season, a further evolution of the car was introduced, the FC188B, which did little to improve the very modest performance of the original version. The season ended with four finishes from the eight starts, which would remain the only finishes for the tiny Italian team, as over the next three years in Formula 1 they would only rack up DNQs (Did Not Qualify) and retirements.
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