OSELLA FA1L Osella 890 Turbo

   With the technical regulations banning turbocharged engines starting in 1989, many small and mid-sized teams chose to switch to naturally aspirated engines a season early, in order to cut costs and experiment with new solutions ahead of the 1989 revolution. This was also the plan for the small team led by Enzo Osella, who intended to finally retire the now-obsolete Alfa Romeo 890 Turbo engines and return to naturally aspirated Ford-Cosworth V8s. However, the operation fell through due to the high financial demands of the British supplier, at least according to Osella.

 OSELLA FA1L, Nicola Larini
Paul Ricard, French GP 1988

   As a fallback, an "in-house" solution was developed: the old Alfa turbo engines were extensively revised and developed in Volpiano, and then rebranded as "Osella 890T" after Fiat Group, the new owner of the historic Milan-based company, prohibited further use of the Alfa Romeo name. The new Osella FA1L, which still drew from the previous single-seater designed by Ignazio Lunetta, was entrusted to Antonio Tomaini, who finally created a car that differed from its predecessors. The design was much lower and sleeker, made possible especially by the new engine position, with a tapered rear in line with the most competitive cars on the grid.

OSELLA FA1L, Nicola Larini
Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1988

   The chassis remained unchanged, still derived from the 1983 Alfa Romeo 183T, but the wheelbase was shortened to 2776 mm. The suspension now featured pull-rod double wishbones, and the gearbox was built by Osella itself, starting from a six-speed manual Hewland unit. All these updates were, as usual, carried out on a shoestring budget, trying to make the most of the materials available to the small Volpiano-based team, resulting in a car with a very high weight of 560 kg. This significantly hampered the performance of the FA1L, driven this season by Italian Nicola Larini, who managed some decent showings but was forced to reduce the power of the thirsty 890T engine significantly to avoid running out of fuel.

OSELLA FA1L, Nicola Larini
Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1988

   The use of the old chassis allowed the Osella team to retain the pedal box position ahead of the front axle, in derogation of the new regulations for newly constructed chassis. After racing the first championship round with the old FA1I, the new FA1L made its debut in the following race at Imola, where the car underwent technical inspections and was disqualified for having modified the fuel tank and the mounting points of the pedal box subframe, essentially creating a new chassis that had not undergone the required crash tests. Everything was resolved before the third round in Monaco, from which point the team embarked on yet another season plagued by retirements and failures to qualify.

 OSELLA FA1L, Nicola Larini
Monza, Italian GP 1988

   Larini saw the checkered flag only twice, never coming close to the points and always running at the back of the field, battling with the lesser-rated naturally aspirated cars. One statistic sums up Osella’s difficulties during the 1988 season: on average, Larini and the FA1L qualified with lap times about 5.8 seconds slower than the pole positions set throughout the season.