Merzario

Merzario was an Italian Formula One and Formula Two constructor founded by former Grand Prix driver Arturo Merzario. Despite entering 38 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix between 1977 and 1979, the team never managed to score a championship point. What it lacked in results, however, it made up for in determination, with Merzario taking on the might of Formula One by designing, building and racing his own cars.

First entry	1977 Spanish Grand Prix
Races entered	38
Engines	Cosworth
Constructors’ Championships	0
Drivers’ Championships	0
Race victories	0
Points	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
Final entry	1979 United States Grand Prix

Formula One

1977

The Merzario story began in 1977 when Arturo Merzario, having previously raced for Ferrari, Williams and March, found himself without a competitive Formula One seat. Rather than step away from the sport, he decided to create his own team.

For its debut season, the outfit ran a March 761B. Merzario’s best result came at the 1977 Belgian Grand Prix, where he finished 14th. Remarkably, this would prove to be the only time in the team’s three-year Formula One history that one of its cars was officially classified at the finish of a World Championship Grand Prix.

Early in the season, Merzario was regularly the quickest of the several March 761s on the grid. As the year progressed, however, competitiveness became harder to maintain. Falling further down the qualifying order, Merzario eventually chose to end the campaign early and focus his efforts on developing a completely new car for 1978.

1978

Ahead of the 1978 season, Merzario joined forces with Swiss Formula One entrant Guglielmo Bellasi and began laying the foundations for a true constructor operation.

The team’s first self-designed Formula One machine, the Merzario A1, made its debut during the season. Although officially a new design, it was heavily based on the March 761B. The car featured a red colour scheme and rudimentary bodywork that drew comparisons to the Ferrari 312T2, particularly through its cockpit-side air intake arrangement. Power came from the standard Formula One combination of a Cosworth DFV engine paired with a Hewland gearbox.

Before the Monaco Grand Prix, the car’s livery switched from red to black. The A1 finally reached the finish of a race at the Swedish Grand Prix, although it was not classified after ending the event eight laps behind the winner following an extended pit stop.

For the Austrian Grand Prix, a second A1 chassis appeared. Some observers believed this “new” car was actually the old March 761B wearing updated bodywork. Whatever its origins, the additional chassis allowed Merzario to improve slightly in qualifying, though race results remained elusive.

At the Italian Grand Prix, the team entered both cars. Arturo Merzario drove the newer A1, while Alberto Colombo took the wheel of the original chassis. Colombo set the slowest qualifying time and failed to make the grid. Merzario qualified comfortably but retired from the race with engine failure.

Across the season, the team successfully qualified for eight Grands Prix. Unfortunately, seven of those appearances ended in retirement due to mechanical problems, highlighting the challenges faced by the small independent outfit.

1979

For 1979, the second A1 evolved into the A1B, featuring revised front suspension, cleaner bodywork and a distinctive yellow-and-black livery. It became the only Merzario model to qualify for Formula One Grands Prix that season, making the grid twice before retiring from both races.

Alongside the A1B, Merzario and designer Simon Hadfield developed the A2 (sometimes referred to in period sources as the A3). Based on the original A1, the new car embraced the ground-effect philosophy that was rapidly transforming Formula One. Powered once again by a Cosworth DFV engine and Hewland gearbox, only a single example was ever built.

The A2 first appeared on track at the 1979 United States Grand Prix West. Merzario successfully qualified the car, but a front suspension failure forced him to race the older A1B instead. The A2’s official race weekend debut came at the Spanish Grand Prix, where Merzario set the 26th-fastest qualifying time and missed the grid.

The following round in Belgium brought another setback when Merzario crashed heavily in qualifying and broke his arm. Unable to drive at Monaco, he handed the car to Gianfranco Brancatelli, who failed to pre-qualify. Merzario returned for the French Grand Prix but could only manage 26th in qualifying, over two seconds adrift of the final starter.

The A2 made its final appearance at the Austrian Grand Prix after Merzario damaged its intended replacement, the A4, during practice.

By this stage, Merzario and Bellasi had acquired the assets of the defunct Kauhsen team, including driver Gianfranco Brancatelli. The purchase brought with it a chassis that many considered even less competitive than the team’s earlier March-derived machinery.

The Kauhsen design was extensively reworked by Giampaolo Dallara and rebranded as the Merzario A4. Retaining the familiar Cosworth DFV and Hewland transmission package, the A4 featured revised suspension and slimmer bodywork with improved sidepod design intended to enhance airflow and aerodynamic efficiency.

Despite those changes, the A4 proved no more competitive than its predecessors. It failed to qualify for every World Championship Grand Prix it entered. The only occasion it avoided being the slowest car in qualifying came at the Italian Grand Prix, where Héctor Rebaque’s Rebaque HR100 was seven-tenths of a second slower.

The A4 did at least make a race appearance outside the World Championship. At the non-championship Dino Ferrari Grand Prix at Imola, Merzario qualified and finished 11th and last, two laps behind the leaders.

After Formula One

Plans were drawn up to evolve the A4 into a new A5 model, but financial difficulties prevented the project from reaching completion. With Formula One ambitions effectively over, Merzario turned his attention to Formula Two.

His 1980 Formula Two challenger, the BMW-powered M1, was designed with enough flexibility that its engine bay could theoretically accommodate a Cosworth DFV Formula One engine. Despite this possibility, no Formula One version was ever produced.

The M1 struggled to make a major impact in Formula Two, prompting the team to return to customer March chassis in 1981. Running March 812s finally brought some reward, with Piero Necchi securing two podium finishes during the season.

After an underwhelming 1982 campaign, Merzario once again committed to building his own Formula Two cars for 1983. Results remained limited, and the team gradually stepped away from the international stage.

A move into Italian Formula 3 followed, but by the middle of the 1980s Arturo Merzario had brought his long and ambitious chapter as a team owner to a close, ending one of Formula racing’s most determined independent constructor stories.

Complete Formula One results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Pts	WCC
1977	March 761B	Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	G			ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	MON	BEL	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USA	CAN	JPN	0	NC
				Arturo Merzario	37					Ret	DNQ	14		Ret	Ret	DNQ		DNQ
1978	Merzario A1	Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	G			ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	MON	BEL	ESP	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USA	CAN		0	NC
				Arturo Merzario	37	Ret	DNQ	Ret	Ret	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNQ	NC	DNQ	Ret	DNQ	DNQ	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNQ
				Alberto Colombo	34														DNPQ
1979	Merzario A1B	Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	G			ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	BEL	MON	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	USA			0	NC
				Arturo Merzario	24	Ret	DNQ	DNQ	Ret
	Merzario A2								DNS	DNQ	DNQ		DNQ			DNQ
				Gianfranco Brancatelli								DNPQ
	Merzario A4			Arturo Merzario										DNQ	DNQ	PO	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ