In this second Top 5 feature (the first one was dedicated to the worst F1 teams), our British contributor, George East focuses on the Top 5 worst Formula 1 cars of recent years; cars that can only be described as “Ambitious but Rubbish…”.
The following, then, are a selection of cars that - on paper - were supposed to be Grand Prix winners but turned out to be huge disappointments due to bad engineering.
5
Honda RA107 - 2007
When British American Tobacco withdrew its sponsorship from the Honda F1 team at the end of the 2006 after fag sponsorship became uncool, Honda decided to replace its iconic red, white and black livery with an environmental message, so the RA107 was covered in a huge image of earth as seen from space. This would have been acceptable, but despite its current efforts, Formula 1 is still one of the least environmentally friendly sports; unsurprisingly then, Honda came in for some severe criticism from environmental types (Greenpeace) for its ‘My Earth Dreams’ livery. Not only was the message seen as hypocritical, the car was also woefully slow, with the team abandoning its B-Spec car after the upgrades were seen to make no difference to its performance. Honda scored just six points in 2007 courtesy of Jenson Button, with teammate Rubens Barrichello failing to score at all.
4
Benetton B201 - 2001
In the year that heralded Renault’s return to the sport, the Renault powered Benetton B201 was, for most of the year, rubbish. In a far cry from the late ‘80s – mid ‘90s which saw the likeable Italian outfit as a regular top-three challenger, the Mike Gascoyne designed car proved to be one of the slowest cars on the 2001 grid as it struggled with poor aerodynamics and an underpowered and unreliable 111° Renault motor. For most of the year, the B201 was so bad its main competitors were the Minardis and until Hockenheim, the former championship winning team had just one point to its name thanks to Giancarlo Fisichella in Brazil. From the mid-season however, the upgrades on the car started to work and the team scored a double points finish in Hockenheim with Fisichella and Button finishing fourth and fifth. The popular Italian also scored Benetton’s last podium in F1 two races later with third at Spa.
3
Ferrari F2012 - 2012
After a conservative 2011 which saw the Scuderia suffer a severe drubbing at the hands of Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel, Formula 1’s most famous name decided to go radical with its 2012 car to try and bring the title back to Maranello. Thanks largely to Fernando Alonso, it almost did, but despite missing out on Ferrari’s first title since 2007 by three points, the F2012 suffered a difficult birth. This made it difficult to drive and slow; so much so, both Alonso and Massa qualified over 1.5 seconds away from pole in Australia. However, whilst the car was far from Ferrari’s best effort, Alonso managed to win the Malaysian Grand Prix in varied conditions and thanks to an upgrade at the Mugello test which turned the team’s fortunes around, the F2012 became a regular point scorer in the hands of Massa, and a title contender with Alonso.
2
Williams FW26 - 2004
Following a 2003 season which saw Juan-Pablo Montoya push – but ultimately lose out to - Michael Schumacher close for the title, Williams decided to go radical in 2004 with its new FW26 to try finally overhaul Ferrari and Schumacher’s dominance. However, it didn’t and the result was a car with a short nosecone and tusks which led its ‘walrus’ moniker. Not only was it an eyesore, it was difficult to set up and inconsistent, so it remained a midfield runner until the Hungarian Grand Prix when Williams bolted on a conventional nose. Happily, this proved to be a turning point for the Grove boys and girls, as Ralf Schumacher closed his season off with a second in Japan and Montoya brought the curtain down on his Williams career with a win in Brazil.
1
McLaren MP4-19 - 2004
Like Williams, McLaren decided to go radical with their 2004 car after losing out to on the driver’s title by two points in 2003. Also, like Williams, their car proved to be somewhat of a disappointment as it was based on the MP4-18; a car so unreliable and dangerous, that it never raced. Despite the MP4-19 being a supposedly ‘de-bugged’ version of its predecessor, it was by McLaren’s standards, a bit of a shocker and carried over some of the reliability issues – Raikkonen retired from five of the first nine races - and a fundamental lack of pace until the French Grand Prix, when the team introduced the MP4-19B, an all-new car which won the Belgian Grand Prix in the hands of Kimi Raikkonen.
The following, then, are a selection of cars that - on paper - were supposed to be Grand Prix winners but turned out to be huge disappointments due to bad engineering.
5
Honda RA107 - 2007
When British American Tobacco withdrew its sponsorship from the Honda F1 team at the end of the 2006 after fag sponsorship became uncool, Honda decided to replace its iconic red, white and black livery with an environmental message, so the RA107 was covered in a huge image of earth as seen from space. This would have been acceptable, but despite its current efforts, Formula 1 is still one of the least environmentally friendly sports; unsurprisingly then, Honda came in for some severe criticism from environmental types (Greenpeace) for its ‘My Earth Dreams’ livery. Not only was the message seen as hypocritical, the car was also woefully slow, with the team abandoning its B-Spec car after the upgrades were seen to make no difference to its performance. Honda scored just six points in 2007 courtesy of Jenson Button, with teammate Rubens Barrichello failing to score at all.
 |
| Honda RA 107. (Photo: WRi2) |
4
Benetton B201 - 2001
In the year that heralded Renault’s return to the sport, the Renault powered Benetton B201 was, for most of the year, rubbish. In a far cry from the late ‘80s – mid ‘90s which saw the likeable Italian outfit as a regular top-three challenger, the Mike Gascoyne designed car proved to be one of the slowest cars on the 2001 grid as it struggled with poor aerodynamics and an underpowered and unreliable 111° Renault motor. For most of the year, the B201 was so bad its main competitors were the Minardis and until Hockenheim, the former championship winning team had just one point to its name thanks to Giancarlo Fisichella in Brazil. From the mid-season however, the upgrades on the car started to work and the team scored a double points finish in Hockenheim with Fisichella and Button finishing fourth and fifth. The popular Italian also scored Benetton’s last podium in F1 two races later with third at Spa.
 |
| Benetton B201. (Photo: WRi2) |
3
Ferrari F2012 - 2012
After a conservative 2011 which saw the Scuderia suffer a severe drubbing at the hands of Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel, Formula 1’s most famous name decided to go radical with its 2012 car to try and bring the title back to Maranello. Thanks largely to Fernando Alonso, it almost did, but despite missing out on Ferrari’s first title since 2007 by three points, the F2012 suffered a difficult birth. This made it difficult to drive and slow; so much so, both Alonso and Massa qualified over 1.5 seconds away from pole in Australia. However, whilst the car was far from Ferrari’s best effort, Alonso managed to win the Malaysian Grand Prix in varied conditions and thanks to an upgrade at the Mugello test which turned the team’s fortunes around, the F2012 became a regular point scorer in the hands of Massa, and a title contender with Alonso.
 |
| Ferrari F2012. (Photo: WRi2) |
2
Williams FW26 - 2004
Following a 2003 season which saw Juan-Pablo Montoya push – but ultimately lose out to - Michael Schumacher close for the title, Williams decided to go radical in 2004 with its new FW26 to try finally overhaul Ferrari and Schumacher’s dominance. However, it didn’t and the result was a car with a short nosecone and tusks which led its ‘walrus’ moniker. Not only was it an eyesore, it was difficult to set up and inconsistent, so it remained a midfield runner until the Hungarian Grand Prix when Williams bolted on a conventional nose. Happily, this proved to be a turning point for the Grove boys and girls, as Ralf Schumacher closed his season off with a second in Japan and Montoya brought the curtain down on his Williams career with a win in Brazil.
 |
| Williams FW26. (Photo: WRi2) |
1
McLaren MP4-19 - 2004
Like Williams, McLaren decided to go radical with their 2004 car after losing out to on the driver’s title by two points in 2003. Also, like Williams, their car proved to be somewhat of a disappointment as it was based on the MP4-18; a car so unreliable and dangerous, that it never raced. Despite the MP4-19 being a supposedly ‘de-bugged’ version of its predecessor, it was by McLaren’s standards, a bit of a shocker and carried over some of the reliability issues – Raikkonen retired from five of the first nine races - and a fundamental lack of pace until the French Grand Prix, when the team introduced the MP4-19B, an all-new car which won the Belgian Grand Prix in the hands of Kimi Raikkonen.
 |
| McLaren MP4-19. (Photo: WRi2) |