Footwork FA17

The Footwork FA17 was the car with which the Footwork team competed in the F1|1996 Formula One season. It was driven by Jos Verstappen, who moved from Simtek, and Ricardo Rosset, who graduated from Formula 3000.

Footwork was bought by Tom Walkinshaw from one of the Arrows team's original founders, Jackie Oliver, early in the season. F1|1996 thus became a write-off as the team's focus switched to F1|1997. This was something of a disappointment, since the FA17 was competitive at the start of the year in the hands of Jos Verstappen. However, lack of development and the lack of horsepower from the Hart V8 engine saw the team slip to the back of the grid by season's end. Progress was further hampered by the team's testing contract with Bridgestone; the Japanese tyre supplier preparing for entry into F1 in 1997.

Throughout the season, Verstappen proved to be very much the faster Footwork driver, but his reliability record was poor. He suffered numerous mechanical failures, including a sticking throttle which caused a huge accident at Spa. He also caused a major sacre at 1996 San Marino Grand Prix when he left a pit stop early and ripped the fuel hose from its tank, covering the garage with flammable fuel. By contrast, Rosset was slow and steady, but neither driver was retained for 1997; champion Damon Hill made the surprising decision to join the team after being dumped by Williams, and Pedro Diniz was chosen to be his number two.

The team eventually finished ninth in the Constructors' Championship, with one point.

Complete Formula One results

() (results in bold indicate pole position)

References

*cite book| last =Henry| first =Alan (ed)| authorlink =Alan Henry| coauthors =| title =AUTOCOURSE 1996-97| publisher =Hazleton Publishing| date =1996| location =| pages =pp. 84-85| url =| doi =| id = ISBN 1-874557-91-8