The Simtek S941 is a

Formula One car A Formula One car (also known as an F1 car) is a single-seat, open-cockpit, open-wheel formula racing car with substantial front and rear wings, and an engine positioned behind the driver, intended to be used in competition at Formul ...

, 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 and former technical director at ...

and

Paul Crooks Paul Crooks is a former Formula One engineer. Crooks began his career as an apprentice aeronautical engineer when he was 17 at the Royal Aircraft Establishment based in Farnborough. He spent five years there before joining RAE at the age of 22. ...

for the

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 ...

team, and used during

1994 Formula One season The 1994 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 48th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1994 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1994 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contes ...

. Although it was the first car to race under the Simtek name the company had previously designed an unbuilt car for BMW - the unbuilt design formed the basis of the

Andrea Moda Andrea Moda is an Italian fashion company, owned by shoe designer Andrea Sassetti. It was responsible for management of the Formula One constructor of same name. Clothing companies of Italy {{fashion-company-stub ...

S921. Simtek also produced a design for

Jean Mosnier Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * J ...

's abortive

Bravo S931 Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels *Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 *Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...

project which was to have launched in 1993. There is a strong family resemblance between the 1992 Andrea Moda and the 1994 Simtek.

Name and livery

The S941 was driven by

David Brabham David Brabham (born 5 September 1965) is an Australian professional racing driver and one of the most successful and experienced specialists in sports car racing. He has won three international Sports Car series and is one of four Australians t ...

for the whole season.

Roland Ratzenberger Roland Ratzenberger (; 4 July 1960 – 30 April 1994) was an Austrian racing driver who raced in various categories of motorsport, including British Formula 3000, Japanese Formula 3000 and Formula One. Having had sporadic success throughout the ...

was scheduled to drive the second car for the first five races, as he only had funding for the first part of the season, but his death at

Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla 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 re ...

the day before 3 time World Champion

Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions, World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers fro ...

meant other drivers had to step in.

Andrea Montermini Andrea Montermini (born 30 May 1964) is an Italian racing driver. Career Montermini raced in Formula 3 in 1989, taking second place in the Monaco GP support race and 4th in the Italian F3 Championship. He then moved up to Formula 3000, racing ...

was involved in a very serious accident at his very first race with the team in the

Spanish Grand Prix The Spanish Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de España, ca, Gran Premi d'Espanya) is a Formula One motor racing event currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating it ...

practice session. This left the team in serious financial difficulties. For the remaining part of the year, three other drivers were in the second seat, including

Jean-Marc Gounon Jean-Marc Gounon (born 1 January 1963) is a French racing driver. He raced in Formula One in and , participating in a total of 9 Grands Prix and scoring no championship points. He is the father of fellow racing driver Jules Gounon. Career After ...

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 Japanese pay driver

Taki Inoue Takachiho "Taki" Inoue (井上隆智穂 ''Inoue Takachiho'', born 5 September 1963) is a retired Japanese racing driver. Biography Inoue was born in Kobe. He competed in the British Formula Ford Championship in 1988, followed by a spell in All- ...

's main sponsor was

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. Other notable sponsors included

Russell Athletic Russell Athletic is an American clothing manufacturer based in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Currently a subsidiary of global company Fruit of the Loom, Russell Athletic was the main brand of Russell Brands, LLC. until its acquisition in 2006.

Engine

The engine was a

naturally aspirated Naturally may refer to: ;Albums * ''Naturally!'', an album by Nat Adderley * ''Naturally'' (Houston Person album) * ''Naturally'' (J. J. Cale album) * ''Naturally'' (John Pizzarelli album) * ''Naturally'' (Sharon Jones album) * ''Naturally'' ...

V8 Ford HBD 6. It was underpowered, but only suffered three failures all season, all in David Brabham's car.

1994 season

The team got the Simtek S941 home 12 times from 32 starts. They benefited from the slowness of the Simtek's back-of-the-grid rival

Pacific PR01 The Pacific PR01 is a Formula One car, designed by Paul Brown for the 1993 season. However, due to financial problems, it did not race until 1994. Name and livery The car name PR01 is named after Pacific Racing, with 01 being their first year in ...

, which rarely qualified. The Simtek S941 did not score any points in its debut season;

marked the team's highest finish with ninth at the

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championsh ...

, although he was four laps down on the leader.

Race 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)

References

* (1994 season statistics.) {{F1 cars 1994 1994 Formula One season cars Simtek Formula One cars