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Simtek (Simulation Technology) was an engineering consultancy firm and Formula One racing team. The Formula One (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 parties. Simtek Grand Prix, the racing team, was launched in 1993 and competed in the 1994 and 1995 seasons, achieving a best result of ninth place. With large debts and a lack of sponsorship money, Simtek went into voluntary liquidation in June 1995.
Simtek Research was founded in August 1989 by Nick Wirth, Max Mosley and Donald Hughes, aiming to provide a cost-effective design, research and development service to the highest possible standards.[1] The company was initially based out of an office in Wirth's home with one employee, engineer Darren Davis. The company grew quickly and moved to its own facility, including a windtunnel, on the Acres Industrial Estate in Banbury, Oxfordshire. Simtek's clients included the FIA, F1 constructors Ligier and numerous Formula 3000 and Indycar teams.
In 1990 Simtek designed a Formula One car for BMW who were making plans to found a works team. The project was aborted, and BMW instead entered the German Touring Car Championship (Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft) in 1991, the BMW 3 Series cars being run by Simtek engineers. The BMW F1 car design was revived, updated and sold to Andrea Moda Formula to compete in the 1992 season. In 1992, after becoming president of the FIA, Mosley sold his share in Simtek to Wirth.
In 1993, Simtek were commissioned to design a car for the new Bravo F1 team, but the plans were scrapped after the sudden death of Bravo's project backer, Jean-François Mosnier.
Formula One
1994
In August 1993, Nick Wirth took the decision to enter Formula One with his own team for the 1994 season. Triple world champion Jack Brabham became a shareholder in Simtek Grand Prix, and his son David Brabham was signed as a driver before the end of 1993.[2]Andrea de Cesaris and Gil de Ferran, both carrying sponsorship money, were initially considered for the second seat but negotiations broke down. Frenchman Jean-Marc Gounon was also considered, but already had commitments for the start of the season so eventually 33-year-old F1 rookie Roland Ratzenberger took the place. Charlie Moody, a former Leyton House manager, was appointed Simtek's team manager.[3]
The company secured customer Ford HB V8 engines from Cosworth, and prior to the season starting, MTV Europe stepped in as title sponsors. Wirth's initial design for the 1994 race car included active suspension, a technology used by Williams to win both the drivers and constructors championships in 1992 and 1993. However, active suspension was banned prior to the start of the 1994 season, and so Simtek were forced to revert to a more conservative design, named the S941. This design was heavy, initially included a fully manual gearbox compared to the semi-automatics being used by the frontrunning teams and the Ford HB engine was less powerful than the engines being used by the front-runners. The company employed 35 people, the fewest of any team competing in Formula One during 1994, and only 10% of the number employed by Scuderia Ferrari.[4]
These deficits showed at the first race of the 1994 season. Brabham qualified in 26th and last place while Ratzenberger failed to qualify. Brabham finished the race 12th, but all cars behind him retired. The next race saw both Simteks qualifying but again occupying the back of the grid. Brabham retired early with an electrical failure, and Ratzenberger finished 11th, last of the cars still running.
I lost a close friend yesterday. Though team-mates for a mere few weeks, we had already a lot of fun together and had every reason to look forward to a great year with the Simtek team. I am confident that the greatest tribute we can pay to Roland is to race today, hence my decision.
David Brabham, on Ratzenberger and his decision to race following Roland's death.[5]
The next round was the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. During the Saturday qualifying session, Ratzenberger left the track during an out-lap dislodging his front wing. After rejoining the track, Ratzenberger decided the car wasn't damaged, and eager to ensure qualification for the race the next day began a flying lap. At the Villeneuve curva while traveling at 190mph (310km/h) the front wing failed, causing Ratzenberger to lose control and the car crashed into a concrete wall. Ratzenberger suffered a basal skull fracture, and was killed instantly. A time posted earlier in the qualifying session by Ratzenberger would have given him the 26th position on the grid. His death was the first at a Grand Prix weekend in 12 years. Traditionally, the team would have withdrawn from the event, but David Brabham decided to race on, in tribute to Ratzenberger and in order to raise the morale of a devastated Simtek team. During the ESPN broadcast of the race, it was stated that Brabham was reluctant to race but was encouraged to race by officials who wanted to keep the field full.[6] Only a day after Ratzenberger's death would another driver - three-time world champion Ayrton Senna - be killed in an accident during the race itself. Senna's death marked the second driver fatality of the weekend.
Brabham's decision to continue racing, in part resulted in Simtek making a collective decision to continue racing and "For Roland" was painted on the airbox of the car, to show their reason for continuing.[7] The team only had one chassis to enter at the Monaco Grand Prix, and before the start, a minute's silence was held in memory of Senna and Ratzenberger with the second grid slot painted with the Austrian flag. In Spain, Andrea Montermini drove for the team, but during the practice session crashed heavily. He escaped with only a broken toe and cracked left heel but was unable to race and his Simtek chassis was badly damaged. After another one car entry in Canada, Jean-Marc Gounon became available to the team for the French Grand Prix. He finished the race ninth, the team's best finish of the season, in part down to high attrition but finishing ahead of Mark Blundell's Tyrrell which was still running. Both cars qualified for all the remaining Grands Prix, ahead of the Pacifics, and occasionally also Lotus and Larrousse. Brabham qualified in 21st for the Belgian Grand Prix, ahead of a Lotus, Larrousse, Footwork and Tyrrell car.
Three races before the end of the season, Domenico Schiattarella took over Gounon's race seat finishing 19th. He was replaced for the penultimate round in Japan by another pay driver Taki Inoue, but his race ended after three laps when he crashed into the pit wall. Schiattarella was reinstated for the final round at Adelaide, but both Simteks retired from the race with technical problems.
After a challenging debut season the team finished with no world championship points but, convinced that Simtek could do better, Wirth decided to continue the Grand Prix programme.
1995
MTV Europe's sponsorship commitment was reduced for the 1995 season, but they remained title sponsors to the team. Rather than money, MTV paid Simtek with airtime on their television channel. This airtime was then sold by Simtek to its other sponsors for them to show commercials.[8] Cosworth again supplied engines to the team, with the more up-to-date Ford ED. These were combined with former Benetton gearboxes and Wirth designed a new chassis, the S951.
David Brabham was made an offer by BMW to race in the British Touring Car Championship, and accepted. He was replaced by Jos Verstappen, who was seeking more experience after an incident-filled season at Benetton in 1994.[9] The second seat was kept by Domenico Schiattarella for the first half of the season, while Hideki Noda paid a deposit to secure the place for the latter races.
Both cars retired from the opening round, but the second round in Argentina brought much promise. Verstappen qualified 14th for the race and moved up to sixth by the first pitstop. A slow pitstop dropped him down the order and then his gearbox failed the following lap. Schiattarella finished ninth, equaling the team's best finish the previous season. Verstappen's gearbox also failed at the next race in San Marino. Schiattarella retired with suspension failure. Spain brought 12th and 15th-placed finishes for the team, but there were bigger problems behind the scenes. In the 18 months the team had been in existence, they had amassed £6million worth of debt.[10]
At Monaco, neither driver completed a lap of the race due to another gearbox failure on Verstappen's car, and the marshals failing to recover Schiattarella's car after the first aborted race start. Following the race Wirth wrote, in one of his regular Usenet newsgroup postings, that "a major new backer of the team, with whom I had signed a contract before the season, has finally pulled out and left a large hole in our finances".[11] Wirth frantically tried to convince potential sponsors to come forward, threatening to shut down the team if none did so.[12] In the event a sponsor could be found, existing sponsors MTV, Russell Athletic and Korean Air pledged to increase their own sponsorship commitments. The team did not appear at the Canadian Grand Prix, but were not fined by the sports commercial rights holders, FOM, for their absence. The CEO of FOM, Bernie Ecclestone agreed that the team entered the championship intending to compete in 16 races and as the championship was extended to 17, they were permitted to miss one race.
Negotiations with the potential backers and sponsors failed, and the companies that would pay for Hideki Noda to drive the Simtek were severely affected by the Kobe earthquake. Prior to the next race, Simtek Grand Prix went into voluntary liquidation and the receivers, Touche Ross, were called in.[13] The collapse of the Formula One team also forced Simtek Research to declare itself bankrupt.[14] In total, 48 jobs were lost and with the team unable to be sold as a going concern, Simtek's assets were auctioned off.
Roland Walter Ratzenberger was an Austrian racing driver who raced in various categories of motorsport, including British Formula 3000, Japanese Formula 3000 and Formula One. Having had sporadic success throughout the lower formulas, Ratzenberger managed to secure an F1 seat in 1994 for the new Simtek team, at the unusually late age of 33. He was killed in a crash during qualifying for the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix just three races into his F1 career. The weekend became notorious for also seeing the death of Ayrton Senna, a three time world champion, during the race the following day.
The 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 27 March 1994 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo. It was the first race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship.
The 1994 Pacific Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 17 April 1994 at the TI Circuit, Aida, Japan. It was the second race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship.
The 1994 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 15 May 1994 at the Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo. It was the fourth race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship, and the first following the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at the San Marino Grand Prix two weeks previously.
The 1994 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 29 May 1994 at the Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló. It was the 36th Spanish Grand Prix and the fourth to be held at the Circuit de Catalunya, and the fifth race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship.
The 1994 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 31 July 1994 at the Hockenheimring, Hockenheim. It was the ninth race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship.
The 1994 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Estoril on 25 September 1994. It was the thirteenth race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship.
The 1994 European Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 16 October 1994 at the Circuito Permanente de Jerez, Jerez, Spain. It was the fourteenth race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship.
The 1995 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 9 April 1995 at the Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was the second race of the 1995 Formula One World Championship and the first running of the Argentine Grand Prix since 1981.
The 1995 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 28 May 1995 at the Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco. It was the fifth round of the 1995 Formula One season. The 78-lap race was won by Michael Schumacher for the Benetton team after starting from second position. Damon Hill finished second for Williams after starting from pole position and leading the first 23 laps of the race, ahead of Gerhard Berger in a Ferrari car. The remaining points-scoring positions were filled by Johnny Herbert in the second Benetton, Mark Blundell (McLaren) and Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Sauber). Schumacher's win was his third of the season thus far and extended his lead in the World Drivers' Championship over Hill to five points. It was also Renault's first win in the Monaco Grand Prix, as Benetton's engine supplier.
The 1995 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 49th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1995 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1995 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a seventeen-race series that commenced on 26 March and ended on 12 November.
The 1994 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 48th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1994 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1994 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 27 March and ended on 13 November.
David Philip Brabham is an Australian racing driver and one of the most successful and experienced specialists in sports car racing. He has won three international Sports Car series and is one of four Australians to have won the Le Mans 24 Hour sports car race, winning the event in 2009. Brabham won the American Le Mans Series in 2009 and 2010. He also competed in Formula One, racing for the Brabham and Simtek teams in 1990 and 1994, respectively. Brabham is the youngest son of three-time Formula One world champion Sir Jack Brabham, brother to Geoff Brabham and Gary Brabham. He is also brother-in-law to Mike Thackwell, father to Sam Brabham and uncle to Matthew Brabham.
Jean-Denis Delétraz is a Swiss racing driver. He participated in three Formula One Grands Prix, debuting in the 1994 Australian Grand Prix. Before reaching Formula One, he scored two third places in the 1988 Formula 3000 season, but principally earned his three Formula One drives as a pay driver. After Formula One, he competed in sports car racing, with two class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Jean-Marc Gounon is a French racing driver. He raced in Formula One in 1993 and 1994, participating in a total of 9 Grands Prix and scoring no championship points. He is the father of fellow racing driver Jules Gounon.
Nicholas John Peter Wirth is an automotive engineer and the founder and owner of Wirth Research.
The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 1 May 1994 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, located in Imola, Italy. It was the third race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship. Michael Schumacher, driving for Benetton, won the race. Nicola Larini, driving for Ferrari, scored the first points of his career when he finished in second position. Mika Häkkinen finished third in a McLaren.
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 the Andrea Moda S921. Simtek also produced a design for Jean Mosnier's abortive Bravo S931 project which was to have launched in 1993. There is a strong family resemblance between the 1992 Andrea Moda and the 1994 Simtek.
The Simtek S951 was a Formula One car designed by Nick Wirth and Paul Crooks and used by Simtek for the 1995 season. The number 11 seat was taken by Domenico Schiattarella and the number 12 seat was taken by Jos Verstappen. The team's test driver was Hideki Noda. Noda was set to take the number 11 seat for the second half of the season, but the team folded after round five. The engine was a Ford-Cosworth EDB 3.0l V8. The team's main sponsor was MTV.
The 1994 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 3 July 1994 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours near Magny-Cours in France. It was the seventh race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship.
Although World Championship races held in 1952 and 1953 were run to Formula Two regulations, constructors who only participated during this period are included herein to maintain Championship continuity. Constructors whose only participation in the World Championship was in the Indianapolis 500 races between 1950 and 1960 are not listed.
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David Brabham 
Roland Ratzenberger 
Andrea Montermini 
Jean-Marc Gounon 
Taki Inoue 
Jos Verstappen 
