 | |
| Full name | Walter Wolf Racing |
|---|---|
| Base | Reading,United Kingdom |
| Founder(s) | Walter Wolf |
| Noted drivers |  Keke Rosberg Jody Scheckter James Hunt Bobby Rahal |
| Previous name | Wolf–Williams Racing |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| First entry | 1977 Argentine Grand Prix |
| Races entered | 48 |
| Constructors | Wolf-Ford |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 |
| Race victories | 3 |
| Pole positions | 1 |
| Fastest laps | 2 |
| Final entry | 1979 United States Grand Prix |
Walter Wolf Racing was aFormula Oneconstructor active from 1977 to 1979, which won thefirst race the team entered. It was owned and run by Slovenian-CanadianWalter Wolf. The team was based inReading,UK[1] but raced with aCanadian licence.[2][3]
In 1975, theSloveniannaturalizedCanadian businessmanWalter Wolf had started to appear at many of the F1 races during the season. A year later, he bought 60% ofFrank Williams Racing Cars while agreeing to keep Frank Williams as manager of the team. Simultaneously Wolf bought the assets ofHesketh Racing who had withdrawn from F1 due to financial issues and bought some equipment fromEmbassy Hill after they shut down their F1 team following aplane crash that killed six people including team ownerGraham Hill and his driverTony Brise. The team was based in the Williams facility at Reading but used most of the cars and equipment once owned by Hesketh Racing. The Hesketh 308C became known as the Wolf–Williams FW05 and soon afterwardsHarvey Postlethwaite arrived as chief engineer.Jacky Ickx and FrenchmanMichel Leclère were hired to drive. The team, however, was not very competitive and failed to qualify at a number of races during the year. Leclère left after theFrench Grand Prix and was replaced byArturo Merzario while Ickx failed to perform and was dropped after theBritish Grand Prix, to be followed by a string ofpay drivers.
At the end of1976, Wolf decided that the team needed restructuring. He removedFrank Williams from the manager's job and replaced him withPeter Warr fromTeam Lotus. Disillusioned, Williams soon left the team, takingPatrick Head and several others to set upWilliams Grand Prix Engineering. Postlethwaite's WR1 was a conventionalCosworth package but withJody Scheckter hired fromTyrrell, the team wonits first race in Argentina. Scheckter started tenth, and took advantage of six of the cars ahead of him retiring. During the 1977 season, Scheckter went on to win theMonaco Grand Prix and theCanadian Grand Prix and also six other podium finishes, which enabled him to finish second toNiki Lauda in theWorld Championship and gave Wolf fourth place in the Constructors' Championship.
Around this time the team developed theWD1 sports car forCan-Am racing. The car was developed with Italian firmDallara.[4]
The team remained the same for the 1978 season. Postlethwaite produced the WR5, a new car for the ground-effects era. This did not appear until the Belgian GP. Scheckter finished fourth inSpain and second inGermany but the WR5 soon made way for the WR6 with which he ended the year with a third in theUS Grand Prix and second inCanada. He finished seventh in theWorld Championship.
In 1979, Scheckter was signed up byFerrari and Wolf signedJames Hunt to replace him. Postlethwaite designed the WR7 which ran withOlympus sponsorship. The car was not very successful and retired more than 7 times during the first half of the season. The WR8 soon followed. In mid-season Hunt decided to retire and Wolf quickly hiredKeke Rosberg to replace him. The appearance of the WR9 did little to change the team's fortunes and at the end of the year Wolf grew tired of his F1 adventure and sold the team toEmerson Fittipaldi, who merged its assets intoFittipaldi Automotive.
A Wolf Racing WR1 is on display at theCanadian Motorsport Hall of Fame.
As of 2015, a Wolf Racing WR4 is being shown and raced at vintage F1 car events in the United States, campaigned byMotoGP world championEddie Lawson.[5]
James Hunt's WR7 is on display at Brooklands Museum, Surrey, UK.
Walter Wolf was also involved in production cars, providing assistance toLamborghini to develop theCountach in 1978 when the Italian constructor teetered on the brink ofbankruptcy.[6]
(key)
| Year | Chassis | Engine(s) | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Points | WCC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | WR1 WR2 WR3 | FordV8 | G | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | ESP | MON | BEL | SWE | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | USA | CAN | JPN | 55 | 4th | |
| Jody Scheckter | 1 | Ret | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1F | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 2P | Ret | 3 | Ret | 3 | 1 | 10F | ||||||
| 1978 | WR4 WR5 WR1 WR6 | FordV8 | G | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | MON | BEL | ESP | SWE | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | USA | CAN | 24 | 5th | ||
| Jody Scheckter | 10 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 3 | Ret | 4 | Ret | 6 | Ret | 2 | Ret | 12 | 12 | 3 | 2 | |||||||
| Bobby Rahal | 12 | Ret | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1979 | WR7 WR8 WR9 | FordV8 | G | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | ESP | BEL | MON | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | CAN | USA | 0 | 14th | |||
| James Hunt | Ret | Ret | 8 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | ||||||||||||||||
| Keke Rosberg | 9 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | DNQ | Ret |
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine(s) | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Theodore Racing Hong Kong | WR3 WR4 | FordV8 | G | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | MON | BEL | ESP | SWE | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | USA | CAN | |
| Keke Rosberg | 10 | NC | Ret | DNPQ |
(key) (results inbold indicate pole position; results initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Driver | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | WR3 | FordCosworth DFVV8 | ROC | |||
| Jody Scheckter | 2 | |||||
| 1979 | WR8 | FordCosworth DFVV8 | ROC | GNM | DIN | |
| James Hunt | 2 | |||||
| WR9 | Keke Rosberg | 6 |
