Lola T97/30

The Lola T97/30 was the car with which the MasterCard Lola Formula One team used to attempt to compete in the 1997 Formula One season. It was driven by Vincenzo Sospiri, the 1995 Formula 3000 champion, and Ricardo Rosset, who moved from Footwork.However, the team's tenure in F1 was brief. The first Lola chassis to compete in the sport since F1|1993 was originally planned for the F1|1998 season. However, due to pressure from main sponsor MasterCard, the car was rushed into service a year before the initial plan. As development on the car was rushed, this meant there was no time for any testing, either in a wind tunnel or on the track.

At Melbourne, the first brief tests showed that both cars were slow in a straight line but also in the corners; the aerodynamics producing too much drag and not enough downforce. This also meant the cars could not get the tyres up to the right temperature. When it came to qualifying for the race, the complete lack of symmetry on the car in all aspects made it painful to watch. Both drivers never even got near a good enough time to make it to the grid, as they struggled in the difficult-handling cars. In the end neither Sospiri or Rosset managed to qualify, 11 and 13 seconds respectively off the pace.

The cars were transported to Brazil for the race at Interlagos, but MasterCard withdrew their support and they remained in the garage for the rest of the weekend, subsequently withdrawing from the championship.

The team were unclassified in the Constructors' Championship, with no race finishes.

Complete Formula One results

() (results in bold indicate pole position)

References

*"AUTOCOURSE 1997-98", Henry, Alan (ed.), Hazleton Publishing Ltd. (1997) ISBN 1-874557-47-0