The ATS D6 was a

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

racing car Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including ...

manufactured and raced by the Team ATS during the

1983 Formula One season The 1983 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 37th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1983 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1983 Formula One World Championship for Manufacturers, which were conte ...

. It was powered by the

BMW M12 The BMW M12/13 turbo was a 1,499.8 cc four-cylinder turbocharged Formula One engine, based on the standard BMW M10 engine introduced in 1961, and powered the F1 cars of Brabham, Arrows and Benetton. Nelson Piquet won the FIA Formula One ...

/13 4-cylinder turbocharged engine but the team failed to score any points.

Development

The D6 was designed by

Gustav Brunner Gustav Brunner (born 12 September 1950) is an Austrian Formula One designer and engineer. Career Born in Graz, he started his career in racing car design at the German-based constructor McNamara (constructor), McNamara. He first entered F1 in a ...

, who based the chassis around a carbon-fibre monocoque. To replace the previous year's Cosworth DFV V8, team owner

Günter Schmid Günter Schmid (13 August 1932 – 29 May 2005) was the founder and principal of the Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Féd� ...

arranged a supply of

/13 4-cylinder turbocharged engines. A total of three chassis were built during the year.Nye, 1985, pp. 164–165 The D6 was trendsetting in the way that its chassis was shaped aerodynamically at the front end so that separate bodywork was no longer needed. In the years to follow this design philosophy became the standard in Formula One;

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

was one of the last top teams to adopt it in 1992 on the MP4/7A.

Racing history

After running two entries the previous season, for 1983 ATS reverted to a single entry driven by German

Manfred Winkelhock Manfred Winkelhock (6 October 1951 – 12 August 1985) was a German racing driver, who competed in Formula One between and . Born and raised in Waiblingen, Winkelhock was the older brother of Joachim and Thomas. Winkelhock participated in ...

. Winkelhock usually qualified well but the team suffered poor reliability. Schmid, a notoriously autocratic and difficult team owner, made a number of management decisions which impacted on the team's results. In qualifying, Winkelhock was often in the top ten on the grid. His best qualifying performance was seventh which he achieved three times, at the

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

, Belgian and the

Canadian Grand Prix The Canadian Grand Prix () is an annual motor racing event held since 1961. It has been part of the Formula One World Championship since 1967. It was first staged at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, as a sports car event, before alterna ...

respectively. However, he finished only four races, the best of these being the

European Grand Prix The European Grand Prix (also known as the Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One event that was introduced during the mid-1980s and was held every year from to , except in . During these years, the European Grand Prix was held in a countr ...

where he placed 8th.

Assessment

In a retrospective article, Jake Boxall-Legge of ''

Autosport ''Autosport'' is a global motorsport publishing brand headquartered based in Richmond, London, England. It was established in 1950 at the same time as the origins of the Formula One, Formula One World Championship. Autosport began life as a we ...

'' called the D6 one of the best Formula One cars to never score a point, alongside the

BAR 01 The BAR 01 (also known as BAR PR01) was the car with which the British American Racing Formula One team competed in the 1999 Formula One season, its inaugural year in the series after purchasing Tyrrell. It was driven by Jacques Villeneuve, ...

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Notes

References

* {{F1 cars 1983 ATS Formula One cars