West Competition (known as mySAP.com in 2000) was a team in the
FIA Formula 3000 Championship, run by the
McLaren Formula One team as part of their driver development programme. Named after McLaren's then sponsor,
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
, the team was active for the three seasons between 1998 and 2000, earning numerous wins as well as the 1999 drivers' and teams' title with
Nick Heidfeld
Nick Lars Heidfeld (born 10 May 1977) is a German professional racing driver.
Despite scoring regular podium finishes in with Williams Grand Prix Engineering, Williams, and in and with BMW in Formula One, BMW Sauber, Heidfeld never won a rac ...
.
The overhaul of the Formula 3000 series in 1996 attracted a number of Formula 1 teams wishing to establish junior teams. The level of commitment to the series varied - some teams simply lent their name to an existing F3000 team, while others were factory-run programmes that ran parallel to their parent team's F1 activities. West Competition fell firmly into the latter category, run by former
Williams race engineer
A race engineer is a motorsport team member who analyses data to achieve the best performance from the vehicle and driver. The race engineer communicates with the team's data analyst, mechanics, and driver, both between and during races. Off the ...
David Brown, who had joined McLaren at the end of 1995 to become race engineer for
David Coulthard
David Marshall Coulthard (; born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver from Scotland, later turned presenter, commentator and journalist. Nicknamed 'DC', he competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between and , taking 13 Grand Prix vi ...
. His work with the McLaren's F1 team lasted only a year, when he was placed in charge of the organisation's driver development programme.
West Competition's cars were given a silver-grey livery that was near-identical to that of the McLaren F1 cars; this remained largely the same for the period of the team's existence, even when West were replaced as title sponsor by mySAP.com.
Many of the team went on to have further success within McLaren, as well as other motor racing and the automotive industry.
Racing History
1998
The team began racing in 1998, with then McLaren test-driver Nick Heidfeld and
Nicolas Minassian
Nicolas Minassian (born 28 February 1973) is a French professional racing driver of Armenian descent.
After finishing 2nd place in the 1993 Formula Renault Eurocup, Marseille-born Minassian graduated to the French Formula Three Championship whe ...
driving.
Heidfeld was quickly on the pace, qualifying and finishing second on his first outing. Over the season, he would win three races, qualify on pole for one more and challenge Juan Pablo Montoya for the title. He eventually finished second overall, scoring 58 points to Montoya's 65.
By contrast, Minassian had a poor season, scoring just 5 points all year. He was replaced by
Bas Leinders
Bas Leinders (born 16 July 1975) is a retired professional racing driver from Belgium. He was a Formula One test and reserve driver in for the Minardi F1 team, taking part in the Friday practice sessions during Grand Prix weekends, making 17 appe ...
for the final race at the Nürburgring. Even though Leinders had qualified 19th, he did not take the start of the race in order to give Heidfeld a chance at winning the title after being pushed down the grid for fuel irregularities.
1999
West Competition retained Nick Heidfeld for 1999 and brought in Brazilian
Mario Haberfeld to replace Minassian who moved on to the new
Kid Jensen Racing team.
Heidfeld won at winning at Imola, Catalunya, Magny-Cours and the A1-Ring, as well as taking four pole positions on the way to the title. His domination of the series was reflected on his winning margin to champsionship runner-up
Jason Watt
Jason Watt (born 24 February 1970) is a Danish racing driver. Watt enjoyed a fruitful karting career before moving into Formula Ford in 1992. He graduated to the British Formula Vauxhall Lotus Winter Series in 1993, winning the championship, as ...
, with Heidfeld amassing 59 points to Watt's 30.
Haberfeld fared less well, just as Minassian had before him. His season would see him fail to qualify five times and retire a further three times. On the two occasions he did finish, it was well out of the points, meaning that he finished the season without a classification in the championship.
2000
With champion Heidfeld leaving for the Prost F1 team at the end of his title year, West Competition signed
Stéphane Sarrazin and
Tomáš Enge
Tomáš Enge (; born 11 September 1976) is a Czech former professional racing driver who has competed in many classes of motorsport, including three races in Formula One. He has twice been sanctioned professionally for drug offences.
Career
Born ...
for the 2000 season. The team also changed their name to mySAP.com in deference to their new title sponsor.
Lauded when signed, Sarazzin proved to be somewhat disappointing, scoring three points. He was replaced mid season by
Tomas Scheckter
Tomas Scheckter (born 21 September 1980) is a South African former racing driver best known for his time in the IndyCar Series.
Early years
Scheckter was born in Monte Carlo to 1979 Formula One World Champion Jody Scheckter and his first wife ...
, the son of the 1979 Formula 1 World Champion Jody Scheckter.
Scheckter had a mixed half-season, qualifying and finishing second behind Enge at
Hockenheim
Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" () and Bertha Benz M ...
, but being rather average elsewhere.
Enge had an up-and-down season, winning the race at Hockenheim yet failing to qualify at
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
. He finished 6th in the title race, the highest of the team's drivers.
At the end of the year, the team disbanded. Principal David Brown also left McLaren at this time, opting to return to race engineering with the
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
team.
Complete results
{{McLaren, state=collapsed
British auto racing teams
International Formula 3000 teams
Auto racing teams established in 1998
Auto racing teams disestablished in 2000