Arrows A20
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The Arrows A20 was the car with which the Arrows
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, ...
team competed in the
1999 Formula One season The 1999 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 53rd season of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Formula One motor racing. It commenced on 7 March and ended on 31 October after sixteen races. The Drivers' Championship w ...
. It was driven by former
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test driver Pedro de la Rosa, a Spanish débutant who brought considerable sponsorship from Repsol and Japan's Toranosuke Takagi, who moved from the defunct Tyrrell team. Mika Salo was due to stay with the team after a promising 1998 but was dropped just a week before the opening race.


Background and design

The team was short of funds with the lack of a major sponsor (Danka's sponsorship having ended at the end of 1998) and the chassis was a mild update of the A19, which had not been too competitive itself. John Barnard had departed and it was left to
Mike Coughlan Michael Coughlan (born 17 February 1959) is a British motor racing engineer and designer. He was Chief Designer for the McLaren Formula One team from to , where he was suspended for his part in the spygate scandal between McLaren and Ferrari, ...
to develop the car. After failing to find an alternative supplier, engine builder
Brian Hart Brian Roger Hart (7 September 1936 – 5 January 2014) was a British racing driver and engineer with a background in the aviation industry. He is best known as the founder of Brian Hart Limited, a company that developed and built engines for mot ...
again supplied in-house engines, but as in 1998, it became clear that his small resources were insufficient to compete in modern F1, and he left the team after an ownership dispute with Tom Walkinshaw.


Malik Ado Ibrahim buyout

At the start of the year a colourful Nigerian prince, Malik Ado Ibrahim, bought a 25% shareholding in the team, and his T-Minus brand appeared on the cars for most of the year. However, he too could not provide sufficient funding. The idea behind the T-Minus brand was that companies and corporations would purchase the rights to use the name and they would be permitted to use the brand to promote their products. Malik stated that he planned to use the brand in conjunction with
Lamborghini Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. () is an Italian brand and manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its subsidiary Audi. Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916–1993) ...
but a deal never pulled through. An Arrows employee of the time stated 'The T-Minus brand has brought in absolutely no money over the year' and carried on stating 'It was simply a dream in the Prince's head and nothing materialised.' Investment company
Morgan Grenfell Morgan, Grenfell & Co. was a leading London-based investment bank regarded as one of the oldest and once most influential British merchant banks. It had its origins in a merchant banking business commenced by George Peabody. Junius Spencer Morgan ...
also bought into Arrows, taking a 50% controlling interest in the team.


Racing history

The year proved to be a disaster, as the cars were slow and unreliable, and the team ended up battling with
Minardi Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal followin ...
at the back of the grid. Its only competitive showing came in the opening race of the season at
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, where de la Rosa finished sixth for a point on his début, with Takagi one place back in seventh. Only this point, and newcomer
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's poor finishing record, kept Arrows from finishing last in the Constructors' standings. De La Rosa stated that the engine, not the chassis was the problem, commenting favorably on the handling of the car. While de la Rosa proved promising, Takagi struggled with communication issues as he could not speak English at the time and left at the end of the season; he was replaced for
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
by Jos Verstappen.


Aftermath

The A20 was extensively refitted in preparation for the 2000 season which saw the team use Supertec engines. De La Rosa and Tom Coronel put in a lot of mileage and posted competitive times. Mark Webber had his first test in a Formula One car aboard an A20 in November 1999, running the Supertec engine and new gearbox. He later said in his autobiography that the A20 was an above average car. The A20 eventually formed the basis of the AX3 3-seater car which Arrows introduced in 2001, using a modified chassis and the same Hart engine. Two examples were built.


Complete Formula One 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)


Notes


References

*''
AUTOCOURSE ''Autocourse'' is a series of annuals covering motor racing, and Formula One in particular. The annuals cover a long period of the sport's history, from 1951 to the present day, and, as such, are highly collectible. History The first edition o ...
1999-2000'', Henry, Alan (ed.), Hazleton Publishing Ltd. (1999) {{F1 cars 1999 Arrows Formula One cars 1999 Formula One season cars