In 1995, the British team Arrows, managed by Jackie Oliver and Alan Rees, continued its participation in the Formula 1 World Championship under the name Footwork. In fact, according to the agreement reached at the end of 1990 with Japanese entrepreneur Wataru Ohashi, president of the Japanese logistics company Footwork, the Milton Keynes-based team in Buckinghamshire was obligated to continue racing under the Footwork name until the end of the 1996 season, despite the Japanese giant having withdrawn from the scene. With a minimal technical staff, few ideas on hand, and extremely limited financial resources, the British team had no choice but to use the 1994 single-seater, only slightly updated and revised to comply with the new technical regulations for the 1995 season. These included higher cockpit side protection above the driver’s shoulders, a larger cockpit opening to facilitate the driver's ingress and egress, reduced front and rear wings to decrease downforce, a modified floor, and more rigorous crash tests.
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| FOOTWORK FA16, Gianni Morbidelli Montréal, Canadian GP 1995 |
Thus, the new FA16 took shape, designed by the team’s technical director Alan Jenkins, with continued collaboration from designer Dave Amey. The two redesigned the chassis using a carbon fiber honeycomb structure, equipping it with a new, sharper, more aerodynamic nose compared to the previous version. Given the limited cash available, the rest of the car remained virtually unchanged, although the engine was no longer the Ford V8 HB E7 used in ’94, but the more economical 2996 cc Hart 830 V8, capable of delivering 680 hp at 13,100 rpm. It was precisely the Hart engine, along with the outdated car design, that turned out to be the main issue behind the car’s poor performance, also exposing its extreme unreliability, only 13 finishes out of 34 entries. Furthermore, the lack of funds did not allow for any development program of the single-seater, which remained virtually unchanged throughout the season.
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| FOOTWORK FA16, Taki Inoue Hungaroring, Hungarian GP 1995 |
Italian driver Gianni Morbidelli was confirmed as lead driver, while for the second car, after the departure of Brazilian driver Fittipaldi, who in 1995 chose to move to the American CART championship taking his personal sponsors with him, Oliver had no option but to rely on a paying driver. He found one in Japanese driver Takachiho Inoue, son of a Japanese slot machine magnate, who brought a personal sponsorship worth 4.5 million dollars to race the full season behind the wheel of the FA16. Despite the team’s financial struggles, Morbidelli managed to finish almost all of the first seven races of the season, even securing a surprising sixth place in the Canadian Grand Prix at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in Montréal. Nevertheless, due to the financial constraints, his seat was also “sold” to another paying driver, Italian Massimiliano (Max) Papis. Papis raced the FA16 during the middle part of the championship, recording only retirements and minor results, though at Monza he managed to finish just outside the points.
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| FOOTWORK FA16, Gianni Morbidelli Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1995 |
In the final three races of the season, Morbidelli returned to the team and, thanks to him, Footwork achieved its best result of the year: a third-place finish in the final race in Adelaide, its first podium finish since the 1988 Italian Grand Prix. Inoue, on the other hand, had an entirely unremarkable season, remembered only for two unusual incidents: in Monaco, after stopping his car on the track due to brake failure, he was rear-ended by the safety car while being towed back to the pits; and in Hungary, after a blown engine, he pulled over, got out of the car and grabbed a fire extinguisher to put out a small fire on the car, only to be hit, albeit at low speed, by a marshal’s vehicle approaching to assist.
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| FOOTWORK FA16, Taki Inoue Montrèal, Canadian GP 1995 |
Thanks solely to Morbidelli’s 5 points, an excellent test driver who managed to make the FA16 somewhat competitive, Footwork secured eighth place in the Constructors' Championship, tied with the much more prestigious Tyrrell team.
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