Simtek S951
Encyclopedia
The Simtek S951 was a Formula One
car for the 1995 season
. The number 11 seat was taken by Domenico Schiattarella
and the number 12 seat was taken by Jos Verstappen
. The teams test driver was Hideki Noda
. Noda was set to take the number 11 seat for the second half of the season, but the team closed down after round five. The engine was a Ford
-Cosworth EDB 3.0l V8
. The team's main sponsor was MTV
.
, along with the chief designer of Simtek Research, Paul Crooks
. It was a direct evolution of the 1994 season
car, the Simtek S941
. In order to secure a firm foothold in the sport following a traumatic season which included the death of one of its drivers, the team designed the S951 to be straightforward and uncomplicated.
One of the main changes was the change of the engine and gearboxes, as Simtek were given the old Benetton
gearbox alongside the Ford-Cosworth EDB engine, which replaced the Ford-Cosworth HB engines. The Benetton gearboxes were used as part of the team's deal to employ Verstappen, who was loaned from his position as Benetton's test driver. The S951s were the last cars to be completed of all the 1995 F1 teams' chassis, arriving at the first round of the championship in Brazil
with minimal testing.
, although he only finished one race due to transmission unreliability. His best race performance came at the same race, where he ran in sixth place until his gearbox failed. Schiattarella, however, made the end to score the team's highest finish with ninth place.
Wirth revealed at the Monaco round
, where both drivers failed to make the race start, that in the eighteen months the team had existed, that had amassed £6 million of debts, partially due to a deal that failed to materialise involving a con
. Wirth decided against travelling to the Canadian GP
in the hope of securing sponsorship for the next round in France
, but this failed. The team went bankrupt
and did not compete in any more rounds. The chassis was sold off in an auction in July 1995, with Verstappen's chassis selling for £18,000, with Schiattarella's chassis selling for £16,000.
The S951 car was not used from 1995 until 2006, but two examples of it were used in the 2007 EuroBOSS
Championship, with Paul Smith and Peter Alexander driving the chassis.
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
car for the 1995 season
1995 Formula One season
The 1995 Formula One season was the 46th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1995 FIA Formula One World Championship, which was contested over 17 races from March 26 to November 12, 1995. For the second year in succession, the Drivers' Championship was won by Michael Schumacher,...
. The number 11 seat was taken by Domenico Schiattarella
Domenico Schiattarella
Domenico Schiattarella , known as Mimmo, is a former racing driver from Italy. 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 championship points, with a best finish of 9th in the 1995 Argentine...
and the number 12 seat was taken by Jos Verstappen
Jos Verstappen
Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen nicknamed "Jos the Boss" is a Dutch racing driver. He is the most successful Dutch Formula One driver, and has also won races in A1 Grand Prix and Le Mans Series LMP2 races...
. The teams test driver was Hideki Noda
Hideki Noda
is a racing driver from Japan. He participated in 3 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting in the 1994 European Grand Prix, but did not score any championship points. He replaced Yannick Dalmas in the Larrousse car for the last 3 Grands Prix of the season, but failed to finish in any of the three races....
. Noda was set to take the number 11 seat for the second half of the season, but the team closed down after round five. The engine was a Ford
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
-Cosworth EDB 3.0l V8
V8 engine
A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....
. The team's main sponsor was MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
.
Design and construction
The car was designed by Simtek owner and technical director Nick WirthNick Wirth
Nicholas John Peter "Nick" Wirth 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 the Benetton, and Virgin Racing teams.- Education and early...
, along with the chief designer of Simtek Research, Paul Crooks
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 next five years he worked as a detail designer...
. It was a direct evolution of the 1994 season
1994 Formula One season
The 1994 Formula One season was the 45th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1994 FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 27, 1994, and ended on November 13 after sixteen races. The season is remembered as one of the most tragic and controversial seasons in...
car, the Simtek S941
Simtek S941
The Simtek S941 is a Formula One car, designed by Nick Wirth and Paul Crooks for the Simtek team, and used during 1994 Formula One season. 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...
. In order to secure a firm foothold in the sport following a traumatic season which included the death of one of its drivers, the team designed the S951 to be straightforward and uncomplicated.
One of the main changes was the change of the engine and gearboxes, as Simtek were given the old Benetton
Benetton Formula
Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from to . The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000 the team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for...
gearbox alongside the Ford-Cosworth EDB engine, which replaced the Ford-Cosworth HB engines. The Benetton gearboxes were used as part of the team's deal to employ Verstappen, who was loaned from his position as Benetton's test driver. The S951s were the last cars to be completed of all the 1995 F1 teams' chassis, arriving at the first round of the championship in Brazil
1995 Brazilian Grand Prix
The 1995 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on March 26, 1995 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo, Brazil. It was the first round of the 1995 Formula One season. The race, contested over 71 laps, was won by Michael Schumacher for the Benetton team after...
with minimal testing.
Racing history
The S951 was much more competitive than the S941 machine, with Verstappen and Schiattarella bringing the car to the finish on several occasions. Verstappen was able to qualify the car in the midfield at several races, his best being fourteenth at Argentina1995 Argentine Grand Prix
The 1995 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on April 9, 1995 at the Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was the second round of the 1995 Formula One season and was the first Formula One race to take place in Argentina since...
, although he only finished one race due to transmission unreliability. His best race performance came at the same race, where he ran in sixth place until his gearbox failed. Schiattarella, however, made the end to score the team's highest finish with ninth place.
Wirth revealed at the Monaco round
1995 Monaco Grand Prix
The 1995 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on May 28, 1995 at the Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco. It was the fifth round of the 1995 Formula One season. The race, contested over 78 laps, was won by Michael Schumacher for the Benetton team after starting from...
, where both drivers failed to make the race start, that in the eighteen months the team had existed, that had amassed £6 million of debts, partially due to a deal that failed to materialise involving a con
Confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
. Wirth decided against travelling to the Canadian GP
1995 Canadian Grand Prix
The 1995 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on June 11, 1995 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal. It was the sixth race of the 1995 Formula One season....
in the hope of securing sponsorship for the next round in France
1995 French Grand Prix
The 1995 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on July 2, 1995 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours. It was the seventh race of the 1995 Formula One season. Michael Schumacher extended his championship lead over Damon Hill to 11 points. As had happened in many seasons,...
, but this failed. The team went bankrupt
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
and did not compete in any more rounds. The chassis was sold off in an auction in July 1995, with Verstappen's chassis selling for £18,000, with Schiattarella's chassis selling for £16,000.
The S951 car was not used from 1995 until 2006, but two examples of it were used in the 2007 EuroBOSS
Euroboss
The EuroBOSS Series is a motor racing series in Europe. The first season was in 2001. The current EuroBOSS Series is open to Formula One cars constructed before 2004 , Indy Racing League or Champ Car chassis and Formula 3000 cars with engines of unlimited capacity...
Championship, with Paul Smith and Peter Alexander driving the chassis.
Complete Formula One results
(results in bold indicate pole position)| Year | Team | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Points | WCC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simtek Simtek Simtek was an engineering consultancy firm and Formula One racing team. The F1 engineering consultancy arm, Simtek Research, was founded in 1989 by Max Mosley and Nick Wirth. It originally was involved in many areas of Formula One, including wind tunnel construction and chassis building for third... |
Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... Cosworth Cosworth Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries... V8 V8 engine A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft.... |
BRA 1995 Brazilian Grand Prix The 1995 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on March 26, 1995 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo, Brazil. It was the first round of the 1995 Formula One season. The race, contested over 71 laps, was won by Michael Schumacher for the Benetton team after... |
ARG 1995 Argentine Grand Prix The 1995 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on April 9, 1995 at the Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was the second round of the 1995 Formula One season and was the first Formula One race to take place in Argentina since... |
SMR 1995 San Marino Grand Prix The 1995 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on April 30, 1995 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola. It was the third race of the 1995 Formula One season.... |
ESP 1995 Spanish Grand Prix The 1995 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on May 14, 1995 at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona. It was the fourth race of the 1995 Formula One season. It proved to be the final race for former champion Nigel Mansell, who quit the McLaren team after the race... |
MON 1995 Monaco Grand Prix The 1995 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on May 28, 1995 at the Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco. It was the fifth round of the 1995 Formula One season. The race, contested over 78 laps, was won by Michael Schumacher for the Benetton team after starting from... |
CAN 1995 Canadian Grand Prix The 1995 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on June 11, 1995 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal. It was the sixth race of the 1995 Formula One season.... |
FRA 1995 French Grand Prix The 1995 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on July 2, 1995 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours. It was the seventh race of the 1995 Formula One season. Michael Schumacher extended his championship lead over Damon Hill to 11 points. As had happened in many seasons,... |
GBR 1995 British Grand Prix The 1995 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on July 16, 1995 at Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, Northamptonshire, England. It was the eighth round of the 1995 Formula One season. The race, contested over 61 laps, was won by Johnny Herbert for the Benetton team after... |
GER 1995 German Grand Prix The 1995 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on July 30, 1995 at the Hockenheimring, Hockenheim. It was the ninth race of the 1995 Formula One season... |
HUN 1995 Hungarian Grand Prix The 1995 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on August 13, 1995 at the Hungaroring, Budapest. It was the tenth race of the 1995 Formula One season.... |
BEL 1995 Belgian Grand Prix The 1995 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on August 27, 1995 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa. It was the eleventh race of the 1995 Formula One season. Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill both qualified further down the grid than usual in a wet-dry qualifying session, but... |
ITA 1995 Italian Grand Prix The 1995 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on September 10, 1995 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy. It was the twelfth race of the 1995 Formula One season. The race, contested over 53 laps, was won by Johnny Herbert for the Benetton team after starting... |
POR 1995 Portuguese Grand Prix The 1995 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on September 24, 1995 at the Autódromo do Estoril, Estoril, Portugal. It was the thirteenth race of the 1995 Formula One season... |
EUR 1995 European Grand Prix The 1995 European Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 1, 1995 at the Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany. It was the fourteenth round of the 1995 Formula One season and the first to be held there since... |
PAC 1995 Pacific Grand Prix The 1995 Pacific Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 22, 1995 at the TI Circuit, Aida, Japan. It was the fifteenth round of the 1995 Formula One season. The race, contested over 83 laps, was won by Michael Schumacher for the Benetton team after starting from third... |
JPN 1995 Japanese Grand Prix The 1995 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 29, 1995 at the Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka. It was the sixteenth and penultimate round of the 1995 Formula One season. The race, contested over 53 laps, was won by Michael Schumacher for the Benetton team after he started... |
AUS 1995 Australian Grand Prix The 1995 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on November 12, 1995 at the Adelaide Street Circuit, Adelaide. It was the seventeenth and final race of the 1995 Formula One season... |
0 | 13th | |||
| Schiattarella Domenico Schiattarella Domenico Schiattarella , known as Mimmo, is a former racing driver from Italy. 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 championship points, with a best finish of 9th in the 1995 Argentine... |
Ret | 9 | Ret | 15 | DNS | ||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen Jos Verstappen Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen nicknamed "Jos the Boss" is a Dutch racing driver. He is the most successful Dutch Formula One driver, and has also won races in A1 Grand Prix and Le Mans Series LMP2 races... |
Ret | Ret | Ret | 12 | Ret |