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| Full name | ATS Wheels |
|---|---|
| Base | Germany |
| Founder(s) | Günter Schmid |
| Noted staff | Robin Herd Giacomo Caliri Gustav Brunner Jo Ramírez[1] Vic Elford[1] Peter Collins[1] Fred Opert[1][2] Alistair Caldwell[1] |
| Noted drivers |  Jean-Pierre Jarier Keke Rosberg Manfred Winkelhock Eliseo Salazar Gerhard Berger |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| First entry | 1977 United States Grand Prix West |
| Races entered | 116 (99 starts) |
| Constructors' Championships | 0 |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 |
| Race victories | 0(best finish: 5th,1979 United States Grand Prix and1982 Brazilian andSan Marino Grands Prix) |
| Pole positions | 0(best grid position: 4th,1980 United States Grand Prix West) |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Final entry | 1984 Portuguese Grand Prix |
ATS (Auto Technisches Spezialzubehör) is a German company that manufactures alloy wheels for road and racing cars. It is based inBad Dürkheim near theHockenheimring race circuit. ATS had aFormula One racing team that was active from 1977 to 1984.[3]
ATS was founded in 1969 byGünter Schmid. The company specialised in lightweight wheels forPorsche,VW andMercedes-Benz automobiles. ATS manufactured the "Penta" wheel used by Mercedes tuning companyAMG from 1979 into the 1980s. After sponsoring a string of nationalmotorsport events, Schmidt decided to enterGrand Prix racing with his own team.
In 1977, ATS purchased the remaining PC4 chassis fromPenske Racing after the American team retired from Formula One.Jean-Pierre Jarier was signed to drive the car, and the team went off to an auspiciuos start, with Jarier finishing 6th on the team's debut at theUnited States Grand Prix West.
A second car was entered in the1977 German Grand Prix for German touring car racerHans Heyer. Heyer failed to qualify, but famously took the start anyway in front of his home crowd at theHockenheimring. The race organisers only noticed when he retired with a broken gear linkage.Hans Binder would then take the second car for the rest of the season, though the team elected to sit out from the final three races of the year inJapan,Canada and theUnited States.
In 1978 Schmidt hired formerMarch Engineering designerRobin Herd to build the first genuine ATSFormula One car, the HS1. Jarier was retained and paired with German driverJochen Mass. The season proved to be turbulent. Jarier finished 8th at theSouth African Grand Prix, but was fired after an argument with Schmidt, and replaced byAlberto Colombo for theBelgian Grand Prix. After two failures to qualify, Colombo was let go and replaced byKeke Rosberg until theGerman Grand Prix. There, Jarier returned, having patched up his differences with Schmid, only for them to re-emerge following Jarier's failure to qualify. Binder returned for one race, beforeMichael Bleekemolen took over. After breaking a leg during testing, Mass was replaced withHarald Ertl. Ertl didn't qualify for the race, and Rosberg returned for the final two races. Despite the introduction of the newD1 chassis designed by John Gentry that featured skirts, wider track and side pods, the team's fortunes didn't improve.[4]TheD1 was used in the last two races of the 1978 season.[4]
In 1979 the team reverted to the idea of fielding one single car, withHans-Joachim Stuck as the driver. The newD2 designed by John Gentry andGiacomo Caliri arrived mid-season but it was an ill-handling car.[4] Another chassis designed by Nigel Stroud, the D3, was swiftly introduced and Stuck took the team's only points score of the season with a 5th place at theUnited States Grand Prix.[5]
The team stepped up to a two-car operation again in 1980, withMarc Surer andJan Lammers signed to drive the D3 whileGustav Brunner was hired to design the new D4. Surer finished 7th at theBrazilian Grand Prix, but suffered broken legs after an accident in practice at theSouth African Grand Prix. The team chose not to replace Surer and run one single car. Lammers managed to qualify 4th for theUnited States Grand Prix West but retired after a collision at the start.[6] Surer returned for theFrench Grand Prix and replaced Lammers, though the team failed to score points for the rest of the season.
The team started the 1981 season with Lammers at the wheel of the D4. At theSan Marino Grand Prix, a second car was fielded forSlim Borgudd, who brought sponsorship from Swedish pop bandABBA as he had drummed with the band in the 1970s. After outqualifying Lammers, Borgudd was retained for the rest of the season. Halfway through the season the team debuted the new HGS1 designed byHervé Guilpin. Borgudd finished 6th at theBritish Grand Prix but otherwise results were poor.
Schmid made a major effort to get the team together for 1982. TwoD5 cars (a heavily upgraded version of the HGS1) were fielded forManfred Winkelhock andEliseo Salazar. This brought better results, with Winkelhock 5th at theBrazilian Grand Prix and Salazar 5th at theSan Marino Grand Prix. (Winkelhock would have taken 7th at the former, but due to bothNelson Piquet andKeke Rosberg being disqualified after the race, Winklehock moved up to 5th, while most of the teams boycotted the latter race, with ATS being one of the few who did race). Salazar also earned unwanted publicity when he collided with the race-leading BrazilianNelson Piquet while being lapped at theGerman Grand Prix. Piquet physically attacked Salazar once out of the car, and the incident was widely televised.
In 1983 Schmid secured a supply ofBMW's powerfulBMW M12/13 4-cylinder turbocharged engine. ATS fielded a single newGustav Brunner-designedD6 car for Winkelhock. There were some good qualifying results from the German, but reliability problems marred his season, and 8th place at theEuropean Grand Prix was his best result.
For 1984, Brunner's newD7 chassis was introduced. Winkelhock ran 3rd at theBelgian Grand Prix before the electrical system failed, but his best finishes were 8th places in theCanadian Grand Prix and theDallas Grand Prix. From theAustrian Grand Prix, a secondD7 was added forGerhard Berger. After a gearbox failure on the grid at theItalian Grand Prix, Winkelhock finally quit. In the race, Berger finished 6th, but the point was not awarded as the second entry had not been registered at the start of the season. After limping to the end of the season with Berger alone, BMW revoked the use of their engines, and Schmid folded the ATS team.[4]
Having established a new brand of wheels withRial, Schmid would return toFormula One in1988 with the team of the same name.
(key) (Results inbold indicate pole position; results initalics indicate fastest lap.)
* Started illegally, having failed to qualify.
† Ineligible for points.
