The Wolf WR7 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 built for the 1979 season by the

Walter Wolf Racing Walter Wolf Racing was a Formula One constructor active from 1977 to 1979, which won the first race the team entered. It was owned and run by Canadian Walter Wolf. The team was based in Reading, UK but raced with the Canadian licence. Histo ...

team. Three examples of the car were produced. The first was WR7. A second car, WR8, was built to the same specification, while a slightly modified car, WR9, first appeared at the

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Ch ...

. The cars were driven by

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

champion

James Hunt James Simon Wallis Hunt (29 August 1947 – 15 June 1993) ''Autocourse Grand Prix Archive'', 14 October 2007. Retrieved 4 November 2007. was a British racing driver who won the Formula One World Championship in . After retiring from racing in ...

and

Keke Rosberg Keijo Erik Rosberg (born 6 December 1948), known as "Keke" (), is a Finnish former racing driver and winner of the Formula One World Championship. He was the first Finnish driver to compete regularly in the series, as well as the first Finnish ...

. The engine was a Ford Cosworth DFV.

Competition history

The car was designed by

Harvey Postlethwaite Harvey Ernest Postlethwaite (4 March 194415 April 1999) was a British engineer and Technical Director of several Formula One teams during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He died of a heart attack in Spain while supervising the testing of the aborted ...

, previously responsible for the

Hesketh 308 The Hesketh 308 and its derived sister model the 308B are Formula One racing cars designed by Harvey Postlethwaite for Hesketh Racing to compete in the and World Championships. The car gave James Hunt his first World Championship Grand Prix wi ...

in which

won his first race. Wolf's former driver

Jody Scheckter Jody David Scheckter (born 29 January 1950) is a South African business proprietor and former motor racing driver. He competed in Formula One from 1972 to 1980, winning the Drivers' Championship in with Ferrari. Scheckter remains the only Afri ...

left the team at the end of , going to Ferrari, where he would win the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. He was replaced by 1976 champion James Hunt. When it was found that Hunt was unable to fit into the Wolf WR5/6 chassis, a new car had to be built in a haste prior to the season opener in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. The cars proved unreliable and uncompetitive, with Hunt only finishing one of his six races in WR7 and WR8. The assertion made by ''

Motor Sport ''Motor Sport'' is a monthly motor racing magazine, founded in the United Kingdom in 1924 as the ''Brooklands Gazette''. The name was changed to ''Motor Sport'' for the August 1925 issue. The magazine covers motor sport in general, although from ...

'' magazine ahead of the season that Hunt was a driver likely to "quickly lose interest" when not provided with a competitive machine proved right after the

1979 Monaco Grand Prix The 1979 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 27 May 1979 at Monaco. It was the 37th Monaco Grand Prix and the seventh round of the 1979 Formula One season. The 76-lap race was won from pole position by Jody Scheckter, driving ...

when he left the team to join

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

as a commentator.

took over his drive for the remainder of the season, but also only finished one race. Rosberg crashed WR9 heavily during qualifying for the

Canadian Grand Prix The Canadian Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix du Canada) is an annual motor racing event held since 1961. It has been part of the Formula One World Championship since 1967. It was first staged at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, as a spor ...

so a hybrid car using WR8's monocoque, dubbed WR8/9 was built up for his use in

the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. At the end of the

1979 Formula One season The 1979 Formula One season was the 33rd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1979 ''World Championship of F1 Drivers''FIA Yearbook 1980, Grey Section, page 84 and the 1979 ''International Cup for F1 Constructors''FIA Yearb ...

, Walter Wolf, owner of the team, pulled out of Formula One and sold the assets of his organisation to Wilson and

Emerson Fittipaldi Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once. Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...

for the use of their

Fittipaldi Automotive Fittipaldi Automotive, sometimes called Copersucar after its first major sponsor, was a Formula One racing team and constructor that competed from to . It was the only Formula One team to have been based in Brazil. The team was formed during ...

team. The WR7 cars were raced as Fittipaldi F7s in the early part of the

1980 Formula One season The 1980 Formula One season was the 34th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1980 ''World Championship of Drivers'' and the 1980 ''International Cup for F1 Constructors'', which were contested concurrently from 13 January ...

by Emerson Fittipaldi and Rosberg.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

Wolf Formula One cars {{F1-stub