The Arrows A18 was the car with which the Arrows Formula One team competed in the 1997 Formula One World Championship. It was driven by Briton Damon Hill, the reigning World Champion who had made the surprising move to the team after being dropped by Williams, and Brazilian Pedro Diniz, who had moved from Ligier.
The A18 was launched in January 1997. 1997 marked a new beginning for the team, with two new drivers, a new engine supplier in Yamaha with the engines tuned by John Judd and new tyres supplied by Bridgestone, supplied under an exclusive deal.[2] The team moved from old premises in Milton Keynes to TWR's purpose-built factory in Leafield.[3] The year also marked the first full season for Tom Walkinshaw's outfit TWR in running the team, as the Scotsman had bought it from one of its founders, Jackie Oliver during 1996.[4]
After a disastrous start to the season which saw the cars almost fail to make the grid in Australia, the team improved, hiring John Barnard as Technical Director. The A18 was proven to be woefully unreliable, despite Walkinshaw's claims that he had wanted a simple and basic chassis design.[5] Damon Hill stated in his autobiography that the car was good to drive but lacked downforce.[6] Hill scored a point at Silverstone, but the highlight of the year came at the Hungarian GP, where he qualified third and led for most of the race. The failure of a throttle linkage component saw him drop behind Jacques Villeneuve on the final lap, although second place was still a great success for the team. Diniz also scored two points at the Nürburgring.[7]
The team eventually finished eighth in the Constructors' Championship, with nine points.
Complete Formula One results
(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)
| Year | Entrant | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Points | WCC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Danka Arrows Yamaha | Yamaha V10 | B | AUS | BRA | ARG | SMR | MON | ESP | CAN | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | AUT | LUX | JPN | EUR | 9 | 8th | |
| Damon Hill | DNS | 17 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 9 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 13 | Ret | 7 | 8 | 12 | Ret | ||||||
| Pedro Diniz | 10 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 8 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 7 | Ret | 13 | 5 | 13 | Ret |
References
- ^ "Engine Yamaha • STATS F1".
- ^ "Arrows and Bridgestone agree on long-term deal". www.grandprix.com. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
- ^ "Walkinshaw reveals the Arrows A18". www.grandprix.com. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
- ^ "Tom Walkinshaw and Arrows". www.grandprix.com. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
- ^ "Arrows A18". www.f1technical.net. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
- ^ Hill, Damon (30 August 2016). Watching the Wheels. Pan Macmillan UK. ISBN 9781925483048. Retrieved 19 January 2020 – via Google Books.
- ^ "The one that got away: Damon Hill, 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix". Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
- AUTOCOURSE 1997-98, Henry, Alan (ed.), Hazleton Publishing Ltd. (1997) ISBN 1-874557-47-0
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