The disappointing, if not outright failed, 1994 season did not discourage Nick Wirth, owner of Simtek (a contraction of "Simulation Technology"), who returned for the 1995 championship with a new single-seater, the Simtek S951. Given his background, first at March as head of aerodynamics and later at Leyton House with a similar role overseeing wind tunnel testing, Wirth focused on simplicity for the new S951, creating a very classic car in collaboration with designer Paul Crooks, free of frills or extreme solutions.
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| SIMTEK S951, Domenico Schiattarella Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1995 |
Although directly derived from the previous S941, an unavoidable choice due to the very limited budget of the small British team, the new S951 abandoned the old suspension system, which was over four years old and designed to work with an electronic system banned by the FIA at the end of 1993. In its place, Simtek adopted a very traditional double wishbone suspension with a push-rod configuration, both front and rear. The chassis was only slightly revised in the shape of the nose, which was narrower and had a less pronounced "eagle beak" shape compared to the 1994 car. The sidepods were also changed, now longer and more squared off, to better house the cooling elements of the new Ford-Cosworth HB engine, used this season instead of the older EDB unit mounted on the S941 in 1994. The new engine was supplied to Simtek thanks to an agreement with Benetton team manager Flavio Briatore, who also provided Simtek with the old six-speed semi-automatic gearbox from the Benetton B194. In return, Simtek agreed to sign Jos Verstappen (father of multiple-time world champion Max), Benetton's reserve driver, effectively "loaned" to Simtek to gain experience.
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| SIMTEK S951, Jos Verstappen Interlagos, Brazilian GP 1995 |
Following the tragic events at Imola in 1994 that struck the Simtek team, including the death of the unfortunate Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger and the subsequent loss of support from Jack Brabham (who had been actively involved in the team and whose son David raced for them in 1994), the second seat at the start of the 1995 season was filled by pay italian driver Domenico Schiattarella. The agreement included a plan to give the seat to the team's test driver Hideki Noda in the latter part of the season. Unfortunately for the Japanese rookie, that opportunity never came, as after the fifth race of the season in Monte Carlo, Wirth found himself over six million pounds in debt and decided not to travel overseas for the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix, pending a sponsorship deal with a shady figure who later turned out to be a fraudster.
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| SIMTEK S951, Domenico Schiattarella Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1995 |
After yet another disappointment, Wirth decided to withdraw his team after eighteen months of participation in Formula 1. The departure of the small team, based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, came as a cold shower, especially since the new S951 proved to be a well-balanced car, unlike its predecessor, with the only real issue being the reliability of the Benetton-built transmission, which was designed specifically for Briatore’s cars and not well suited to the Simtek chassis. Despite being the last cars on the 1995 grid to be assembled, the chassis only left the Banbury factory a few weeks before the season opener in Brazil, having completed very limited testing, the S951 showed potential. In the second race of the season in Argentina, Schiattarella qualified 14th and finished 9th, the best result in the brief history of the British team and matching the finish achieved by Gounon in France in 1994. Verstappen, meanwhile, ran as high as sixth before his transmission failed.
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| SIMTEK S951, Jos Verstappen Imola, San Marino GP 1995 |
At Imola, both cars suffered gearbox issues, as had already happened in Brazil. In Spain, both drivers saw the checkered flag, with Verstappen finishing ahead of Schiattarella. At Monaco, Verstappen’s transmission failed again, this time during the formation lap, while Schiattarella was involved in a first-lap crash. This was the last appearance of a Simtek car in a Formula 1 Grand Prix. After an unsuccessful attempt by Wirth to clear the team's debts, Simtek was forced to declare bankruptcy before the seventh race of the season, ending their participation in the 1995 World Championship. In the months that followed, to partially repay debts, the two cars were sold for about £35,000 and only returned to the track in 2007, when they were entered in the EuroBOSS Championship by gentleman drivers Paul Smith and Peter Alexander.
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