This history is a bit different than the other stories I have written for Il Blog Del Ring, in that instead of focusing on a single race or season, I’ll look at a team’s history.
Today’s story is the history of Osella Squadra Corse.
Vincenzo Osella started his racing career in the mid-1960’s in Turin, driving a variety of sportscars for the Abarth team.
1966 Arbath 1000
In the early 1970’s Arbath entered into an agreement with Osella to design a car. In 1974, Osella took over the factory Abarth sports car program and expanded into single-seater racing. In 1975, the team entered the European Formula Two Championship with Giorgio Francia and Duilio Truffo, achieving some success with its own car, the BMW-powered Osella FA2.
Abarth-powered Osella PA1.
Osella continued in Formula Two the following season, but financial problems meant that the team was not competitive and withdrew from the championship before the end of the season. In the following years, the FA2s were occasionally entered by privateers, one of them being the Swiss touring car driver Charly Kiser. The experience prompted Osella to try to become a manufacturer for other teams. The Osella FA3 Formula Three car, powered with Toyota or Lancia engines, competed in the 1976 German and Italian F3 championships without making any great impression. After this, the team concentrated on running in local sports car events during 1977 and 1978.
In 1978 Osella made the decision to build its own car and in 1979 used the BMW F2 with Eddie Cheever while designing their own F1 car.
The BMW F2 car used by Osella and driven by Eddie Cheever in 1979. While a couple of years old the car was good enough to propel Cheever to 4th in the European F2 championship.
Move To F1
The first Osella F1 car was designed by Giorgio Stirana and powered by a Cosworth DFV. The car was named the FA1 and a modified car the FA1A.
The car was slow and overweight and unreliable, only finishing 2 of 14 races. Both finishes were out of the points.
The FA1A
1981
Cheever was poached by Tyrrell for 1981, as Osella expanded to a two-car team with the very wealthy Beppe Gabbiani in the lead car and a second car pedalled by Miguel Ángel Guerra. Denim remained as main sponsor but Monopolio Tabacchi, the Italian state-owned tobacco company, withdrew their MS funding. Two restyled FA1Bs were produced, the cars having a highly-modified chassis with the driver sitting further forward, and with the structure stiffened by carbon fibre panels, but the season did not go well, with both cars regularly failing to qualify.
Gabbiani fell out with Enzo Osella over his performances, and Ángel Guerra’s season was curtailed when he was badly injured in an accident at San Marino. Piercarlo Ghinzani and Giorgio Francia took over Ángel Guerra’s repaired car for the next few races, then new sponsor Saima S.p.A funded the employment of Jean-Pierre Jarier, unexpectedly unemployed since his Talbot-Ligier drive fell through. Jarier joined the team at the British GP, immediately giving Osella its best ever results with two eight places. Jarier then moved into the new FA1C at the Italian GP, while Gabbiani continued to post DNQs in the old FA1Bs.
Beppe Gabbiani
1982
The 1982 season would be a changer for Osella. Jarier would be resigned and new Italian driver Paletti brought in. The design team would change with Giorgio Valentini and Tony Southgate brought in to give it a more “English” design. The result was the FA1C.Race 4 of the season would see Osella’s first points taken by Jarier with a fourth place.
Jarier taking 4th at San Marino
The Canadian GP race was marred by the death of Italian driver Riccardo Paletti, in only his second F1 race start. At the start, the lights took an unusually long time to turn to green. During this time, Didier Pironi, who had the pole position, stalled the engine of his Ferrari. Pironi lifted his hand to signal the problem just as the lights switched to green, which was too late to abort the start. The other cars swerved across the track, trying to squeeze past Pironi’s stationary car. Raul Boesel just clipped the back left of the Ferrari, spinning his March into the path of Eliseo Salazar and Jochen Mass. Salazar, Boesel and Mass suffered minor impacts but it looked as if everyone had passed the Ferrari without serious consequences. However, Paletti could not react in time and slammed into the rear of the stranded Ferrari at 180 km/h (110 mph), catapulting it into the path of Geoff Lees. The Osella’s nose was crushed in severely.
The death of Paletti
1983
The 1983 season was a transition for Osella. Ghinzani returned and Corrado Fabi (brother of Teo Fabi) joined the team. There was also a big change in engines. The Alfa V12 was made available. The Alfa would be used by Ghinzani from race 4 and Fabi from race 9. Regardless of the engine the car was a disaster only finishing 3 races.
Osella FA1E 12-cylinder 1983
1984
The 1984 season saw some dramatic changes for Osella. The team was down to one driver, Ghinzani, and had a new turbo engine, the 1.5 L V8 Alfa Romeo.
The 1984 Alfa 1.5 L turbo
The 1984 Osella team
The highlight of the season was Ghinzani scoring a 5th in Dallas. It would be Osella’s peak.
Ghinzani’s 5th in Dallas.
I must add that Jo Gartner scores a single point for Osella at the Italian GP, but because the rules allowed “guest” drivers to participate, they could not score any points. Garner was classified as a guest throughout the season.
1985
In 1985, Osella only entered a single vehicle. The only driver of the team was Piercarlo Ghinzani, the FA1G debuted at the San Marino Grand Prix in May. The FA1G was entered in the sixth race, driven by Ghinzani. Five times out of the six, the Italian team failed to qualify. The only finish was 15th at the French Grand Prix
Ghinzani’s successor Rothengatter failed to qualify in seven races out of the eight he was entered in. He had to retire three times due to of technical problems. The best result he manages to achieve was seventh place in the Australian Grand Prix.
1985 Osella
1986
For 1986, Osella would return to 2 full time cars. Ghinzani would complete in all 16 races, while Danner, Berg and Caffi would drive a second car.
The best result would be two 11 place finishes from Ghinzani and Danner and a 12 from Berg. The 1986 season would begin the decline of Osella as a competitive factor in F1.
Berg in the FA1H
1987
The 1987 F1 season saw dramatic changes at Osella. Ghinzani and Berg were gone, with Italian driver Alex Caffi entering all sixteen races, with Tarquini and Swiss driver Franco Forini each entering a couple. There was a new title sponsor in the Swiss engineering company Landis – Gyr.
The season would be Osella’s worst ever, with Caffi only finishing one race, a 12-place finish in San Marino.
Caffi in the FA1G
1988
1988 would see another change of drivers with Nichola Larini entered in every race except the opener in Brazil. Osella would only run a single car in 1988. Of the 16 races the team entered it finished only 3 with the best result a 9th at Monaco.
FA1L
1989
With the new engine regulations of 3.5 L normally aspirated, Osella went aback to a two-car team. Larini was retained and Ghinzani brought back. There was a new title sponsor in Fondmetal. The all-new car was designated the FA1M. Unfortunately, the car was uncompetitive and would not score a single point.
The FA1M
1990
The 1990 season would see Osella drop both of its drivers and bring in Frenchman Olivier Groiuillard as the sole driver. Of the 16 races his best finish was a 13th at Monaco. By the end of the season, it was all over for Osella.
At the end of the 1990 season, Osella sold the team to Gabrieli Rumi, who was the owner of Fondmetal.
In 11 seasons Osella scored 5 points.
I wrote this short history of Osella because the first F1 race I went to in 1982, I had tickets which allowed me to get a grid walk. During that walk I met and had a short conversation with Riccardo Palettti. He was a really nice guy and answered a couple of questions I had. The next day he was dead. Killed in a crash at the start of the race. RIP Riccardo.
Ian Caldwell
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