2 car teams

[Mark]

One of the best aspects of F1 is that all teams must field 2 cars, even the ones who would rather only pay for one.

So you get great intra team rivalries.

Of course all teams in F1 must field 2 cars, but when did this rule first come into place? Presumably it used to be possible to have 1 or even 3 car teams?

[ArrowsFA1]

Good question. I remember the likes of McLaren running 3 'works' cars on a couple of occasions in 1977 for example, but I'm not sure how often it happened after that.

IIRC Theordore, RAM and ATS ran 1-car teams in 1982.

[BDunnell]

And, of course, BRM ran stupid numbers of cars in the early 1970s when they simply couldn't cope with doing so.

[D-Type]

From memory.

Not the question being asked: In the fifties most teams ran several cars, presumably on the basis that the more cars the more starting money and the more possibilities of winning. The first conscious effort to run a a two car team was probably Cooper in 1959 and 1960 with just Brabham and McLaren as works entries, admittedly backed up by several privateers. Lotus on occasions only ran two cars but that was more a case of resource constraint - lack of cars or suitable drivers.

Once the 'Ecclestone influence' arrived and teams were required to enter for a season rather than by the race, two car teams became the norm, but entries from one car teams were also accepted, I remember Osella running a single car.

Then as the number of aspiring teams reduced, it became mandatory to enter two car teams, but I can't remember when.

The next stage was to require any new team to pay a large sum to 'join the club'. As far as I know only Toyota did this as the other manufacturer teams, Jaguar, Honda, Renault, (and BMW?) bought existing teams.

All part of the transition from a losely run professional 'sport' to the current tightly controlled 'entertainment'. Either credit or blame Bernie Ecclestone depending on your viewpoint.

Some point in the early 90's....I'd guess '92.

The Life was a single car entry in 1990, as was the Coloni-Subaru disaster, I think.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Don't forget that Williams only entered one car in 1994 for the race after Imola.

[D-Type]

Yes, but that was force majeure, the 'enter two cars for the championship' rule was in place by then.

There were singleton teams in 1991 but not in 1992 so I I agree with Tamburello that was probably the year, but I haven't found any evidence to confirm it.

[ChrisS]

the 3rd concorde agreement came into effect in 1992 so 2 car teams were probably covered in that agreement.

[RaikkonenRules]

Coloni and Fondmetal were the last teams to run 1 car in 1991.

[ClarkFan]

One of the best aspects of F1 is that all teams must field 2 cars, even the ones who would rather only pay for one.

So you get great intra team rivalries.

Of course all teams in F1 must field 2 cars, but when did this rule first come into place? Presumably it used to be possible to have 1 or even 3 car teams?

All the time. I think that Giancarlo Baghetti was in the 4th Ferrari when he won the 1961 French Grand Prix. And Ferrari regularly ran a 3-car team that year, with Hill, von Trips and Ginther. DType is correct that this was common in the 1950s. McLaren entered 3rd cars several time in 1973 (Jody Sheckter) and 1977 (Gilles Villeneuve), and as BDunnell stated BRM often ran packs in 1971 and 1972.

There were also a number of 1 car teams, including Lola in 1962, Honda in 1964, Eagle in 1966-7, and Hesketh in the mid-1970s.

ClarkFan

[D-Type]

Baghetti was in what was technically a private entry when he won at Reims. Ferrari had loaned a car to the Federazione Italiane Scuderie Automobilistiche (FISA). a body formed to develop Italian talent. The car was an older 60 degree V-6 when the works cars had progressed to 120 degree engines. It was prepared by Ferrari mechanics, but I think the pit was run separately by FISA.

The 1962 Lola wasn't a 1-car team. Bowmaker ran a pair of Lolas for Surtees and Salvadori. They had purchased the cars from Lola so they weren't a works team, but they were the only Formula 1 Lolas so effectively they were.

[BDunnell]

I suppose one of the most famous single-car teams was Wolf in 1977 with Jody Scheckter. Today, he says that while at the time he liked being the team's sole focus, he would probably have benefited from having a team-mate.

Good question. I remember the likes of McLaren running 3 'works' cars on a couple of occasions in 1977 for example, but I'm not sure how often it happened after that.

Twice, by my recollection.

Renault ran Phillippe Streiff alongside regular drivers Derek Warwick & Patrick Tambay at the 1984 Portuguese GP, and then ran Francois Hesnault alongside them at the Nurburgring in 1985.

I'm pretty certain that the second one was run as a 'Camera' car rather than an out-and-out challenger. That said, the RE60 wasn't an out-and-out challenger anyway.

If I recall correctly, neither were eligible for points anyway.

[V12]

Twice, by my recollection.

Renault ran Phillippe Streiff alongside regular drivers Derek Warwick & Patrick Tambay at the 1984 Portuguese GP, and then ran Francois Hesnault alongside them at the Nurburgring in 1985.

I'm pretty certain that the second one was run as a 'Camera' car rather than an out-and-out challenger. That said, the RE60 wasn't an out-and-out challenger anyway.

If I recall correctly, neither were eligible for points anyway.

Strangely enough I think it was around that time, 1984 I think, when if you had entered for the championship as a one-car team, if you later entered a SECOND car it was also ineligible for championship points - I think Gerhard Berger (ATS) and Jo Gartner (Osella) fell foul of this, Monza I think?

[jso1985]

yep if they nominated only 1 car at the start of the season, a second car couldn't score points, happened to Berger in 1984(I think)

[D-Type]

Was that both Drivers' Championship and Manufacturers' Championship points? Or only Manufacturers'?

[BDunnell]

I was under the impression that it certainly referred to drivers' points. Not sure about constructors.

[futuretiger9]

Twice, by my recollection.

Renault ran Phillippe Streiff alongside regular drivers Derek Warwick & Patrick Tambay at the 1984 Portuguese GP, and then ran Francois Hesnault alongside them at the Nurburgring in 1985.

I'm pretty certain that the second one was run as a 'Camera' car rather than an out-and-out challenger. That said, the RE60 wasn't an out-and-out challenger anyway.

If I recall correctly, neither were eligible for points anyway.

Renault were possibly allowed some form of exemption, because they were carrying the camera car, and were seen to be contributing to "the show". The rules on maximum two-car teams possibly stemmed from the Concorde Agreement of 1981, which effectively ended the original FIA/FOCA tussle.

There has been intermittent talk since of allowing three-car teams, but nothing seems to have come of it.

In the past, these "third men" have gone on to greater things, examples being Gilles Villeneuve at Silverstone '77 and Emerson Fittipaldi at Lotus in '70. At Monza in 1976 Ferrari ran three cars. They had signed Reutemann from Brabham, and because Lauda recovered from his crash quicker than anticipated, they decided to enter three cars.