At the end of the 1990 season, Leyton House saw engineer Adrian Newey depart for Williams. Newey had been the mastermind behind the innovative cars developed in recent years for the Anglo-Japanese team. However, his brilliant ideas had always been somewhat stifled at Leyton House due to the team's limited budget and a group of engineers not quite capable of adequately developing Newey's concepts. For the new season, Austrian engineer Gustav Brunner, former ATS designer from the early '80s and with a recent stint at Ferrari, took over the technical direction of the team. The new CG911 project was led by Chris Murphy, known for designing the Larrousse-Lola cars over the previous two years.
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| LEYTON HOUSE CG911, Ivan Capelli Hungaroring, Hunarian GP 1991 |
The new car did not stray far from the previous CG901, which had shown occasional promising performance toward the end of the previous season. The push-rod suspension system from 1990 remained unchanged, as did the carbon fiber monocoque chassis. Even aesthetically, it was difficult to tell the 901 apart from the 911, which retained the smooth and harmonious lines favored by Newey, including a sharply tapered rear and a low, pointed nose. In the second half of the season, the nose was slightly raised, creating a ridge along the front wing.
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| LEYTON HOUSE CG911, Mauricio Gugelmin Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1991 |
The most significant change from 1990 was undoubtedly the adoption of the new Ilmor LH10 V10 engine, marking the end of the collaboration with Judd. Ilmor Engineering, a British company based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, was founded in 1983 by Mario Ilien and Paul Morgan. After quickly achieving success in the American CART series, Ilmor entered Formula 1 in 1991 by supplying Leyton House with the LH10 engine, a 3498 cc V10 producing 680 hp at 13,000 rpm. Its main strengths were its compact size (593 mm in length, compared to 620 mm for the Honda RA109E and 668 mm for the Renault RS1) and its light weight at just 126 kg dry. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to make the engine competitive, and its frequent breakdowns became the main reason behind the team's troubled season. These issues were compounded by off-track events in September, when team owner Akira Akagi became entangled in the Fuji Bank scandal.
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| LEYTON HOUSE CG911, Mauricio Gugelmin Monza, Italian GP 1991 |
The drivers chosen to race the new CG911 in the 1991 season were the returning Mauricio Gugelmin and Ivan Capelli. However, the Italian driver was replaced in the final two races by Austrian rookie Karl Wendlinger, who was financially backed by Mercedes-Benz and brought the funds needed to complete the season. The only notable result in the 1991 championship came from Capelli, who finished sixth in the Hungarian Grand Prix. With just one point in the standings, the team ended up twelfth in the Constructors’ Championship, last among the classified teams.
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| LEYTON HOUSE CG911, Karl Wendlinger Suzuka, Japanese GP 1991 |
At the end of the season, following Akira Akagi's arrest due to his involvement in the Fuji Bank scandal, the Japanese financier was forced to withdraw from Formula 1. As a result, the team had to undergo a name change and restructure its organization ahead of the following season.
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