Arrows Grand Prix International was a Formula One team active from f1: 1978 to f1: 2002. For a period of time, it was also known as Footwork.

Origins of the team

The Arrows Grand Prix International team was founded in 1977, by Italian financier Franco Ambrosio (A), Alan Rees (R), Jackie Oliver (O), Dave Wass (W) and Tony Southgate (S) when Rees, Oliver, Wass and Southgate left the Shadow team.

The team was started in Milton Keynes, England and produced their first Formula One car in just 53 days. Arrows signed up Riccardo Patrese who scored points in the US West Grand Prix at Long Beach in the car's third race.

Ambrosio left the team due to being jailed for financial irregularities in Italy. Shadow sued for copyright infringement, claiming that the Arrows FA/1 was just a copy of the Shadow DN9. The team decided to build a new car called the A1. This was completed in 52 days and appeared the day after the High Court in London banned the team from racing the FA/1.

Arrows Grand Prix International

In September 1978, in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Patrese was involved in an accident which claimed the life of Ronnie Peterson and he was banned from racing at the following race (the United States Grand Prix) by his fellow drivers. In 1981, Patrese would score the team's only F1 pole position in Long Beach, which he led until retiring with mechanical problems. Arrows finished joint 8th in the Constructors Championship that year.

In 1984 with BMW M12 turbo engines and sponsorship from cigarette company Barclay things got much better. That year they were 9th in the Constructors Championship and 8th in 1985. In 1987, BMW removed support and the engines were badged Megatron, but the British team had their best seasons yet, finising 6th in F1: 1987 and 4th in F1: 1988 (the final year for turbocharged engines) thanks to frequent points finishes by drivers Eddie Cheever and Derek Warwick.

Footwork Arrows

main: Footwork Arrows Japanese businessman Wataru Ohashi invested in Arrows in 1990 and the cars started displaying the Footwork logo prominently. The team was officially renamed Footwork in 1991, and secured a deal to race with Porsche engines, with disastrous results, and in 1992 they switched to Mugen. Arrows retained the Footwork name until Ito pulled out before the 1996 season, whereupon the name of the team was changed back to Arrows. Regardless, Jackie Oliver had retained control throughout the entire period.

TWR Arrows

In the 2000 Season, Jos Verstappen returned to Arrows where he had driven in 1996 alongside teammate Pedro de la Rosa. The chassis was a Arrows A21 with a Supertec engine. The Supertec engine was not the most powerful, but was still very good, and had been developed further for this season. Allied to an excellent aerodynamic package, and good rear end stability, it allowed the Arrows A21 to consistently set the best straight line speeds around the circuits. Generally, both Verstappen and de la Rosa were competitive within a close midfield.