Walter Wolf Racing
 |
|
| 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 a Formula One constructor from 1977 to 1979, notable for winning the very first race the team entered. It was owned and run by Canadian Walter Wolf. The team was based in the United Kingdom but raced under the Canadian nationality.
In 1975, the Austrian naturalized Canadian businessman Walter Wolf had started to appear at many of the F1 races during the season. A year later, he bought 60% of Frank Williams Racing Cars while agreeing to keep Frank Williams as manager of the team. Simultaneously Wolf bought the assets of Hesketh Racing and bought some equipment from Embassy Hill, both teams having recently withdrawn from F1. 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 afterwards Dr. Harvey Postlethwaite arrived as chief engineer. Jacky Ickx and Frenchman Michel 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 the French Grand Prix and was replaced by Arturo Merzario while Ickx failed to perform and was dropped after the British Grand Prix, to be followed by a string of pay-drivers.
At the end of 1976, Wolf decided that the team needed restructuring. He removed Frank Williams from the manager's job and replaced him with Peter Warr from Team Lotus. Disillusioned, Williams soon left the team, taking Patrick Head and several others to set up Williams Grand Prix Engineering. Postlethwaite's WR1 was a conventional Cosworth package but with Jody Scheckter hired from Tyrrell, the new-look team presented a strong package. No one, however, expected that the team would win its first race in Argentina. It was in many respects a lucky win, with Scheckter starting tenth with six of the cars ahead of him retiring. During the 1977 season, Scheckter went on to win the Monaco Grand Prix and the Canadian Grand Prix and also six other podium finishes which enabled him to finish second to Niki Lauda in the World Championship and gave Wolf fourth place in the Constructors' Championship.
...
Wikipedia