The Arrows FA1 was a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

car used by the

Arrows Grand Prix International Arrows Grand Prix International was a British Formula One team active from to . It was known as Footwork from 1991 to 1996. Origins The Arrows Grand Prix International team was founded in Milton Keynes, England in November 1977, by Italian ...

team during the first half of the

1978 Formula One season The 1978 Formula One season was the 32nd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1978 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the International Cup for F1 Constructors,''World Championship of F1 Drivers 1978'' & ''International Cup f ...

. The FA1 was in reality a

Shadow DN9 The Shadow DN9 was a Formula One car used by the Shadow team during the 1978 and 1979 Formula One seasons. It is most famous for having been copied by the new Arrows team for their FA1. Arrows, formed by a disgruntled group of Shadow's staffer ...

, which Tony Southgate had designed for

Shadow A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, o ...

whilst working as a consultant for them. Southgate mistakenly believed that because he had designed the Shadow DN9 whilst working as a consultant (and not a Shadow employee) that he owned the intellectual rights to the Shadow DN9 design. Based on this misconception Arrows built the FA1, which was essentially a carbon copy of the DN9. The FA1 was banned by the London High Courts partway through the 1978 season after a legal protest from the Shadow team, on the grounds was a blatant copy of the DN9. The judgement handed down ruled that over 70% of the FA1 was identical to the DN9 and that all four Arrows FA1's should be broken up by Arrows and their parts handed over to the Shadow team. Knowing it would lose the case, Arrows hurriedly designed and built a new car, the A1, whilst the court case was being heard and did not miss a race.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) 3 points scored using the A1.

References

FA1 Formula One controversies Works involved in plagiarism controversies {{F1-stub