At the end of the 1991 season, after Akira Akagi, owner of the Leyton House team and president of the namesake group, became involved in the Fuji Bank scandal and was subsequently arrested, the Japanese financier was forced to withdraw from Formula 1, and the team had to change its name and organizational structure in preparation for the following season. Thanks to the intervention of a group of entrepreneurs, including Akagi’s former business partner Ken Marrable, as well as John Byfield, Tony Birchfield, Henny Vollenberg, and Austrian designer Gustav Brunner, the British team managed to stay afloat by reverting to the name March F1 Team, even though it no longer had any real connection to March Engineering, the company founded in 1969 by Max Mosley, Alan Rees, Graham Coaker, and Robin Herd.
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| MARCH CG911B, Karl Wendlinger Spa-Francorchamps, Belgian GP 1992 |
With very limited funds available, the new British team entered the 1992 season with the same car used in 1991 by the former Leyton House team, retaining the distinctive light blue livery, though now entirely devoid of commercial partners. Over the course of the season, a few small local sponsors placed their logos on the car, providing only minor financial support to the team's increasingly depleted coffers. The CG911, originally designed for the 1991 season by Chris Murphy under the technical direction of Gustav Brunner, was only slightly updated to a "B" version, keeping the carbon fiber monocoque chassis unchanged, along with the push-rod suspension setup at both the front and rear, and a wheelbase of 2790 mm.
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| MARCH CG911B, Karl Wendlinger Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1992 |
The Ilmor 2175A engine, a 680 hp V10 revving at 13,000 rpm with compact dimensions and low weight, was the same as the previous season. However, the Bicester-based team no longer had exclusive use of this power unit, as it now had to share it with Tyrrell, which in 1992 outperformed March both in terms of performance and results. Lead driver Ivan Capelli left for Ferrari, and his position was taken by Austrian Karl Wendlinger, financially backed by Mercedes and already behind the wheel of the CG911 for the final two races of 1991. He was joined, more for marketing reasons than sporting merit, by French rookie Paul Belmondo, son of famous actor Jean-Paul.
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| MARCH CG911B, Jean-Paul Belmondo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexican GP 1992 |
The car, largely unchanged from the previous version, remained mediocre, although Wendlinger managed respectable performances in qualifying, occasionally placing the car in the first five rows. However, the car's limitations in performance and reliability became evident during races, with Wendlinger managing only one notable result, a fourth-place finish at the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, along with a few other minor placings. Rookie Belmondo, on the other hand, failed to get past pre-qualifying six times in the first nine races of the season and was replaced after the Hungarian Grand Prix in mid-August by Italian driver Emanuele Naspetti, who brought financial support from sponsor Uliveto to the team’s depleted finances. A similar fate befell the capable Wendlinger, who was forced to give up his seat for the final two races to Dutch pay-driver Jan Lammers.
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| MARCH CG911B, Emanuele Naspetti Spa-Francorchamps, Belgian GP 1992 |
The 3 points scored in Canada at least secured the Bicester team a place in the Constructors’ Championship standings, earning them a modest payout for the 1993 season. Before the new season began, March announced its intention to participate again, entering the updated CG911C car, to be driven by rookie Jean-Marc Gounon and Jan Lammers. The FIA duly included the team in the official entry list, but on the weekend of March 14, 1993, when the season kicked off with the South African Grand Prix, March failed to secure the necessary funding for the trip and to continue competing in Formula 1, ultimately closing its doors for good.
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