Benetton F1 team

This is the fourth in a series on successful Formula One teams.

The Benetton Formula Ltd, commonly referred to as Benetton, participated from 1986 to 2001 and was owned by the Benetton family, who operated a chain of shops selling colorful clothing with a youth appeal. Haven gotten a taste of F1 as a sponsor for Tyrrell in 1983, Luciano Benetton quickly identified this as the ideal way to promote his brand.

He bought the Toleman team in 1985 and went on to win a total of 260 races, 2 Driver's Titles, 1 Constructor's Title, 27 victories, 15 poles, 94 podiums and 36 fastest laps. Though the team was bought by Renault F1 in 2000, it competed in the 2001 season as Benetton team. It's last race was the 2001 Japanese GP. Below an image of its entries over its 16 year history.

BMW provided the power at the beginning but the team was the only one using the M12/13 turbo charged engine to win a race (1986 Mexican GP). Later they switched to Ford's Cosworth line of engines and won the championship with the Zetec-R V8. In 2001 they switched to Renault's V-10's but they were over-optimistic as the engine didn't propel a world champion until 2005 with a young Spaniard behind the wheel.

Schumacher celebrating with Briatore

The team was run by Flavio Briatore, one of the most colorful characters in F1 at the time, from 1990 until 1997. Soon after Briatore joined Benetton, two very important minds joined the team as part of TWR acquiring a third of it. These two engineering minds were Tom Walkinshaw and Ross Brawn. The latter would later have a stellar career with Michael Schumacher at Ferrari, and then his own F1 team.

One of the better known Formula One World Champion's to drive for Benetton was Michael Schumacher, who accounted for 19 of the teams 27 career victories and their two Driver's Titles. Flavio identified the young German as a possible world champion driver in 1991 and signed him to a long contract before anyone else could. He then started work on a new technical facility in England Cotswold hills, bringing the entire F1 operation under one roof. The fortunes of Benetton rose and fell with Schumacher though, and with his departure in 1995, another 13 key figures left the team, including Brawn and Rory Byrne. Hereafter, the team was never a serious contender for the championship and scored only 3 podiums finishes until is was sold.


Famous Benetton drivers:
- Michael Schumacher, 19 wins and 38 podium finishes,
- Giancarlo Fisichella,  scored the team's last pole in the 1998 Austrian GP,
- Alexander Wurz,
- Gergard Berger, won the 1986 Mexican GP and 1997 German GP,
- Alessandro Nannini,
- Jean Alesi, finished 4th in the Driver's Championship in 1996 and 1997,
- Theo Fabi, scored the team's first pole,
- Thiery Boutsen,
- Nelson Piquet, first ex-F1 world champion to race for Benetton,
- Johnny Herbert,
- Jenson Button, would later win the Driver's Title in 2001 driving for Brawn,
- Martin Brundle,
- Riccardo Patrese,
- Roberto Moreno,
- Jos Verstappen, experienced in 1994 a pitlane fire that resulted in advances in pit stop safety,
- Emanuele Pirro,
- Jyrki Jarvilehto.

Source: F1-fansite, com, Wikipedia, ESPN,
Photo Credit: Getty Images