The Simtek S951 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 ...

car designed by

Nick Wirth Nicholas John Peter Wirth (born 26 March 1966) is an automotive engineer and the founder and owner of Wirth Research. He is also the former owner of the Simtek Formula One team, a former aerodynamicist at March Engineering, March and former tec ...

and Paul Crooks and used by

Simtek Simtek (Simulation Technology) was an engineering consultancy firm and Formula One racing team. The Formula One (F1) engineering consultancy arm, Simtek Research, was founded in 1989 by Max Mosley and Nick Wirth. It originally was involved i ...

for the 1995 season. The number 11 seat was taken by

Domenico Schiattarella Domenico "Mimmo" Schiattarella (born 17 November 1967) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 7 Formula One Grands Prix for Simtek, debuting on October 16, 1994, and finishing when the team folded the next year. He scored no championshi ...

and the number 12 seat was taken by

Jos Verstappen Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen (; born 4 March 1972) is a Dutch racing and rally driver, who competes in the European Rally Championship as a privateer. Verstappen competed in Formula One between and . Born and raised in Dutch Limburg, ...

. The team's test driver was

Hideki Noda is a Japanese professional racing driver. He participated in three Formula One Grands Prix, debuting in the 1994 European Grand Prix, but did not score any championship points. He replaced Yannick Dalmas in the Larrousse car for the last three ...

. Noda was set to take the number 11 seat for the second half of the season, but the team folded after round five. The engine was a

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

- Cosworth EDB 3.0l V8. The team's main sponsor was

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

Design and development

The car was designed by Simtek owner and technical director

, along with the chief designer of Simtek Research, Paul Crooks. It was a direct evolution of the 1994 season car, the S941. In order to secure a firm foothold in the sport following a traumatic season in which

Roland Ratzenberger Roland Walter Ratzenberger (; 4 July 1960 – 30 April 1994) was an Austrian racing driver, who competed in Formula One at three Grands Prix in . Born and raised in Salzburg, Ratzenberger began his racing career as a protégé of Walter Lechn ...

was killed at

Imola Imola (; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical region Romagna ...

whilst driving the S941, the team designed the S951 to be straightforward and uncomplicated.Henry (ed.), p. 62 One of the main changes was the change of the engine and gearboxes, as Simtek were given the old 1994 Benetton gearbox alongside the Ford-Cosworth EDB engine, which replaced the Ford-Cosworth HB engines. The Benetton gearboxes were used as part of the team's deal to employ Verstappen, who was loaned from his position as Benetton's test driver. The S951s were the last cars to be completed of all the 1995 F1 teams' chassis, arriving at the first round of the championship in

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with minimal testing.

Racing history

The S951 was much more competitive than the S941 machine, with Verstappen and Schiattarella bringing the car to the finish on several occasions. Verstappen was able to qualify the car in the midfield at several races, his best being fourteenth at

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, although he only finished one race due to transmission unreliability. His best race performance came at the same race, where he ran in sixth place until his gearbox failed.Henry (ed.), p. 99 Schiattarella, however, made the end to score the team's highest finish with ninth place. Wirth revealed at the Monaco round, where both drivers failed to make the race start, that in the eighteen months the team had existed, that had amassed £6 million of debts, partially due to a deal that failed to materialise involving a con. Wirth decided against travelling to the Canadian GP in the hope of securing sponsorship for the next round in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, but this failed. The team went

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the de ...

and did not compete in any more rounds. The chassis was sold off in an auction in July 1995, with Verstappen's chassis selling for £18,000, with Schiattarella's chassis selling for £16,000.

Later use

The S951 was not used until 2006, but two examples of it were used in the 2007

EuroBOSS The BOSS GP Racing Series is a motor racing series in Europe. The category originated in 1995 as the BOSS Formula series and evolved into the EuroBOSS Series. BOSS is an acronym that stands for Big Open Single Seaters. History The BOSS serie ...

Championship, with Paul Smith and Peter Alexander driving the chassis.

Complete Formula One results

( key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

References

Footnotes

Books

External links

StatsF1 profile (translated)
{{Simtek 1995 Formula One season cars Simtek Formula One cars