In 1991, Porsche made its return to Formula 1 as an engine supplier. This statement alone should evoke memories of the formidable victories achieved by Stuttgart's power units when mounted on McLaren cars up until 1987, bringing three drivers' championships and two constructors' titles to the Woking-based team. However, this time the situation was quite different. While the development of the Porsche TTE P01 V6 Turbo engine in the 1980s had been financially supported by Franco-Saudi entrepreneur and TAG owner Mansour Ojjeh, on this occasion, the Stuttgart engineers, led by Porsche's chief engine designer Hans Mezger, developed everything in-house using only Porsche’s own funds. Mezger revived an old 1987 project for a 3500 cc V12 engine, distinguished by an unusual power take-off located in the middle of the cylinder block.
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| FOOTWORK FA12, Michele Alboreto Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1991 |
The project nevertheless caught the interest of Wataru Ohashi, president of the Japanese logistics giant Footwork Express Company, who in 1990 completed the acquisition of the former Arrows team, now renamed Footwork Grand Prix International. However, the delivery of the first Porsche V12 found Footwork’s technical staff, Alan Jenkins and Dave Amey, unprepared. Due to the bulkiness of the German engine, they had to revise the design of the new FA12, which was already at an advanced development stage. The decision was made to modify the old A11B, which still derived from Ross Brawn's 1990 A10 design. With this car, renamed Footwork A11C Porsche, the British team entered the first two races of the season, fielding Italian drivers Michele Alboreto and Alex Caffi, although Caffi was replaced on four occasions by Stefan Johansson due to injury. This car was essentially a “laboratory” version used over the winter for testing the new engine, and the results spoke for themselves.
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| FOOTWORK FA11C, Alex Caffi Phoenix, United States GP 1991 |
After a dismal debut in the championship and a disastrous Brazilian Grand Prix, where neither Alboreto nor Caffi managed to qualify, the team underwent internal restructuring. Alan Rees was appointed as financial director and John Wickham as team manager. By the third race of the season in Imola, the new FA12 was finally ready, though it turned out to be a project that began badly and ended even worse. By the time the FA12 was fully developed, the team already had serious doubts about the Porsche 3512 V12 engine. First, Porsche's resources for developing the V12 were limited, and the engine concept was already over four years old. Its weight was its main drawback: compared to Ferrari's engine, the lightest in 1991, it was a full 50 kg heavier (189 kg versus 139 kg). Furthermore, Mezger’s revolutionary design that supplied energy from the center of the engine led to numerous and persistent oil pressure issues.
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| FOOTWORK FA12, Michele Alboreto Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1991 |
Unreliable, underpowered, and especially very heavy, the German V12 was abandoned halfway through the season, when the British team arrived at the French GP in Magny-Cours with the FA12C, fitted with the less glamorous but more practical, lighter, and more reliable Ford-Cosworth DFR V8. Porsche, however, did not immediately give up on its plan to return to the top tier of racing and began developing a V10 engine for the following year, easier to package and, of course, lighter. Unfortunately, after yet another failure, Porsche’s top management decided to pull the plug on the Formula 1 project. The new engine was repurposed for use in the Endurance Championship, another venture that failed before it even started. The ten-cylinder engine originally intended for racing would eventually become a production model, powering the Carrera GT supercar.
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| FOOTWORK FA12C, Alex Caffi Monza, Italian GP 1991 |
Thus, the life of the FA12 was extremely short and inglorious, with three failed qualifications and four retirements, all due to engine failure. The 1991 championship ended for the Footwork team with the FA12C Ford, without any improvement in results, closing the season with zero points and 17th place in the constructors’ standings, ahead of only Coloni.
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