Osella

Osella Squadra Corse appeared in the world of Grand Prix racing with its first Formula One machine, the FA1. The car was designed by Giorgio Stirano. Powered by Ford Cosworth DFV, it was overweight and aerodynamically inefficient. The car was presented in a blue and white livery with large Denim branding on the sidepods. Many components were manufactured in-house which meant that they were cheap to produce but not always state-of-the-art. The driver was again Eddie Cheever who was able to finish just one race in whole season. Frequently, he had to suffer from the massive unreliability of his car. In the following seasons, the basic design was changed several times.

In the early years, most of the work was done by interim designers like Giorgio Valentini or Tony Southgate, but frequently Enzo Osella himself also worked on the cars. Most of these attempts brought no improvement as high-tech solutions could not be financed. Jean-Pierre Jarier finished fourth at Imola in 1982 (where only 14 cars started) and scored the first Championship points for the young team in a car that was by now dubbed Osella FA1C.

Despite this result, neither the financial nor the technical situation improved. Few sponsors were attracted by the tiny Italian team. Denim only stayed for the first two seasons, Kelemata was no more reliable, and others like Landis & Gyr vanished as quickly as they had come. Most of the other sponsors were small or mid-size companies from Turin or the region of Piemont.

The Osella FA1D at Bournemouth in 2016.

The lack of funding led to frequent driver changes as the team demanded that their drivers bring significant sponsorship to keep the team afloat. Some drivers started their F1 careers at Osella, such as Alex Caffi and Gabriele Tarquini, while Piercarlo Ghinzani had four stints with the team. Others disappeared as quickly as they had come, such as Allen Berg and Franco Forini. Enzo Osella gave the young Austrian Jo Gartner his one and only chance to drive a Formula One car in 1984. Riccardo Paletti also had high hopes, but was killed in a start-line accident at the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix.

None of these drivers were able to push the team forward. Finally, Osella continued to live hand-to-mouth each year, with little or no improvement in competitiveness.

Alfa-Romeo derived FA1F at the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix, where Ghinzani achieved Osella's second and last points finish.

In the mid-1980s, Osella was the beneficiary of factory Alfa Romeo engines, both in naturally-aspirated (1983–84) and turbo (1984–88) forms. On one hand, the Alfa engine program helped the team to survive the increasingly professional turbo era; on the other hand, the heavy, unreliable and thirsty machines contributed to the team's lack of competitiveness. At least at first, Alfa offered some technical input to the team; the 1984 Osella FA1F was based on the 1983 works Alfa Romeo 183T, which had been loaned to the team for "design assistance" purposes. All the following Osella models up to the FA1L in 1988 had their origins in the initial Alfa design.

The Alfa turbo engine, the 890T, was not reliable. Chargers blew off regularly and power output had to be reduced down to the level of the non-turbo cars just to achieve the necessary reliability. On more than one occasion, Osella tried to replace the 890T with more up-to-date Motori Moderni turbos (which Minardi did not support) or with Cosworth engines. In the end, both were too expensive, so Osella had to stick with the increasingly outdated but cheap 890T.

For 1988 – the last year before turbos were banned – the team re-branded the 890T as the "Osella V8". This came about after Alfa's parent company, Fiat, grew tired of the negative publicity the team had given the 890T and, while allowing them to continue using the engine, refused to allow the Alfa Romeo name to be used.

After driver Nicola Larini managed some impressive times in pre-season testing at Monza, the team were quietly confident of a decent showing through 1988, as many teams had switched to naturally-aspirated engines in preparation for 1989. However, the reality was that the FA1L, with its outdated turbo, was not up to the challenge: Larini often failed to qualify or even pre-qualify, and was also excluded from the San Marino Grand Prix before practice after failing to get through scrutineering due to illegal changes made to the chassis. At the end of the season, Enzo Osella was more than happy to be finally rid of the old Alfa engine.

The 1989 season saw much improvement. The all-new, Cosworth DFR-powered Osella FA1M was a big step ahead, and ultra-sticky qualifying tyres from Pirelli brought some success, at least in the qualifying sessions (most notably in the Japanese Grand Prix, where Larini qualified 10th). The fine qualifying performance brought no results in the races; the Osella cars almost never saw the finish line due to several technical failures. The most tragic race was the Canadian Grand Prix in which Larini was third before the FA1M's electrics failed due to water ingress. Piercarlo Ghinzani re-joined the team for 1989 with limited success, often failing to qualify. He announced his retirement at the season ending Australian Grand Prix. While Larini failed to start the very wet race when his electrics were water-logged on the grid, Ghinzani's race and career came to a violent end when a high-speed collision with the Lotus of Nelson Piquet left Ghinzani with an injured ankle.

In 1990, after ten years in Formula One and still without any meaningful sponsorship, Enzo Osella sold shares in his team to metalwork magnate Gabriele Rumi, as part of a sponsorship deal with Rumi's Fondmetal company. During 1990, the team entered a single car for French driver Olivier Grouillard, who gained a reputation in F1 for being a "blocker", holding up faster cars and ignoring his mirrors. At the end of 1990, Rumi took over the remainder of the team and renamed it Fondmetal.

(key)

Year	Chassis	Engine	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
1974	Osella PA2	BMW		BAR	HOC	PAU	SAL	HOC	MUG	KAR	PER	HOC	VAL
			Arturo Merzario										Ret
1975	Osella FA2 March 742	BMW		EST	THR	HOC	NÜR	PAU	HOC	SAL	ROU	MUG	PER	SIL	ZOL	NOG	VAL
			Giorgio Francia	4	10	5	6	Ret	5	5	DNS		4	9	5	Ret	Ret
			Diulio Truffo	5	6	8	Ret	6	6	Ret		5	5	Ret
			Roberto Filannino												15	Ret	DNQ
			Arturo Merzario											Ret			Ret
1976	Osella FA2	BMW		HOC	THR	VAL	SAL	PAU	HOC	ROU	MUG	PER	EST	NOG	HOC
			Giorgio Francia	DNQ	Ret	11
			Gianfranco Trombetti	Ret	Ret	DNQ
			Arturo Merzario												DNQ
1979	Osella FA2/79	BMW		SIL	HOC	THR	NÜR	VAL	MUG	PAU	HOC	ZAN	PER	MIS	DON
			Eddie Cheever	1	5	Ret	8	Ret	Ret	1	Ret	1	5	6	7

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Chassis	Engines	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	WCC	Points
1980	FA1	Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	G		ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	BEL	MON	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	USA			NC	0
				Eddie Cheever	DNQ	DNQ	Ret	Ret	DNQ	DNQ	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	Ret
1981	FA1B FA1C	Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	M		USW	BRA	ARG	SMR	BEL	MON	ESP	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	CPL		NC	0
				Miguel Ángel Guerra	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	Ret
				Piercarlo Ghinzani					13	DNQ
				Giorgio Francia							DNQ
				Jean-Pierre Jarier									8	8	10	Ret	9	Ret	Ret
				Beppe Gabbiani	Ret	DNQ	DNQ	Ret	Ret	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
1982	FA1C	Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	P		RSA	BRA	USW	SMR	BEL	MON	DET	CAN	NED	GBR	FRA	GER	AUT	SUI	ITA	CPL	12th	3
				Jean-Pierre Jarier	Ret	9	Ret	4	Ret	DNQ	Ret	Ret	14	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNQ	Ret	Ret	DNS
				Riccardo Paletti	DNQ	DNPQ	DNQ	Ret	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNS	Ret
1983	FA1D	Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	M		BRA	USW	FRA	SMR	MON	BEL	DET	CAN	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	EUR	RSA		NC	0
				Corrado Fabi	Ret	DNQ	Ret	Ret	DNQ	Ret	DNQ	Ret
				Piercarlo Ghinzani	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
	FA1E	Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12		Corrado Fabi									DNQ	DNQ	10	11	Ret	DNQ	Ret
				Piercarlo Ghinzani				DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	Ret	DNQ	Ret	Ret	11	DNQ	Ret	Ret	Ret
1984	FA1F	Alfa Romeo 890T 1.5 V8t	P		BRA	RSA	BEL	SMR	FRA	MON	CAN	DET	DAL	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	EUR	POR	12th	2
				Piercarlo Ghinzani	Ret	DNS	Ret	DNQ	12	7	Ret	Ret	5	9	Ret	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	Ret
				Jo Gartner										Ret	Ret	Ret	12	5‡	Ret	16
	FA1E	Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12		Jo Gartner				Ret
1985	FA1F FA1G	Alfa Romeo 890T 1.5 V8t	P		BRA	POR	SMR	MON	CAN	DET	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	BEL	EUR	RSA	AUS	NC	0
				Piercarlo Ghinzani	12	9	NC	DNQ	Ret	Ret	15	Ret
				Huub Rothengatter									Ret	9	NC	Ret	NC	DNQ	Ret	7
1986	FA1G FA1F FA1H	Alfa Romeo 890T 1.5 V8t	P		BRA	ESP	SMR	MON	BEL	CAN	DET	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	AUT	ITA	POR	MEX	AUS	NC	0
				Piercarlo Ghinzani	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNQ	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret
				Christian Danner	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNQ	Ret	Ret
				Allen Berg							Ret	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	Ret		13	16	NC
				Alex Caffi													NC
1987	FA1I	Alfa Romeo 890T 1.5 V8t	G		BRA	SMR	BEL	MON	DET	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	AUT	ITA	POR	ESP	MEX	JPN	AUS	NC	0
				Alex Caffi	Ret	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNQ	Ret	Ret	DNQ
				Gabriele Tarquini		Ret
				Franco Forini											Ret	Ret	DNQ
1988	FA1I FA1L	Osella 890T 1.5 V8t	G		BRA	SMR	MON	MEX	CAN	DET	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	ESP	JPN	AUS	NC	0
				Nicola Larini	DNQ	EX	9	DNQ	DNQ	Ret	Ret	19	Ret	DNPQ	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	Ret	DNPQ
1989	FA1M	Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8	P		BRA	SMR	MON	MEX	USA	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	ESP	JPN	AUS	NC	0
				Nicola Larini	DSQ	12	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	Ret	DNPQ	Ret	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	Ret	DNPQ	Ret	Ret	Ret
				Piercarlo Ghinzani	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	Ret	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	Ret	DNPQ	Ret
1990	FA1M-E	Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8	P		USA	BRA	SMR	MON	CAN	MEX	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	ESP	JPN	AUS	NC	0
				Olivier Grouillard	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNQ	13	19	DNPQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNPQ	16	Ret	DNQ	Ret	DNQ	13

^‡ Not eligible for points.