The most Important Formula One Team you Have Probably Never Heard of

Benetton Formula One Team may be one of the most influential teams in modern history of Formula One.

When we hear Benetton today its in passing, simply as someone's former employer. However those who have worked and driven there are now many of the important figures in the sport. Here is a very brief look back at the team and how it became the legend it is today.

Benetton Formula Limited was formed in 1985 by the Benetton Group, an Italian clothing manufacturer. They purchased a struggling Toleman Motorsport team. A team whose car would only cross the finish line twice in twenty races in the 1985 championship season. Benetton Formula One would make its first entry in the 1986 Championship season. They had secured a new Engine provider in BMW and signed on two new drivers in Teo Fabi, and Gerhard Berger. The team would go on to win twenty seven grand prix victories, one Constructors title, and two drivers championships.

The Man at the Helm

We cant talk about Benetton without first talking about Flavio Briatore. Yep, that Flavio Briatore. The original gangster of the "questionably golden era" of Formula One. Benetton ownership brought over the marketing man fresh from living in exile in the Virgin Islands to manage commercial operations of the Formula One Team. Over the next few years he would fully take control of team operations and even acquire an ownership stake in the team. Side note: Flavio has an absolutely wild resume up to this point, if you never get the chance to read his story here are some highlights; Ski Instructor, restaurant owner, *alleged* car bomber, Italian stock broker, criminal exile, fashion tycoon, and now, Formula One boss.

Assembling a Team

Flavio was primarily responsible for the business side and was out of his depth when it came to a technical understanding of Formula One. What he did excel at was assembling a team of the greatest talent available. He retained lead designer Rory Byrne and race engineer Alan Permane. Permane is the recently promoted Racing Bulls team principal and in his time at Benetton would be the lead race engineer for Grand Prix winner Jean Alesi. One of Briatore's first hires was legendary car designer John Barnard, who is credited with developing the semi-automatic gear box as well as introducing the first carbon fibre chassis to formula one. The design of the carbon fibre monocoque revolutionized F1 car design and iterations of both designs are still being used to this day.

The first major driver acquisitions for Flavio was Nelson Piquet, a veteran driver with twenty wins and three drivers world championships to his name. Piquet would claim his last three wins with the team and finish out his career at Benetton to retire at the end of the 1991 season.

Also in 1991, a young up and coming sports car series driver would make his first career start with the Jordan-Ford F1 team. The young man standing in for his recently imprisoned teammate (F1 in the 90's!) at the Belgian Grand Prix at SPA. That driver's debut was so impressive, that in a move wrought with controversy at the time, was lured over to Benetton and signed after just one race with Jordan team. That man was none other than Formula One icon Michael Schumacher. His career in Formula One is that of legend, but in short; 306 race starts, 91 Grand Prix wins, and seven World Drivers titles. Schumacher finished the last five races of the 1991 season in the Benetton, and in the following season collected his first win for the team.

In 1992 Benetton still under the leadership of Briatore hired on the engineering talents of Tom Walkinshaw and Ross Brawn. Walkinshaw was recruited as team engineering director for Benetton. He would go on to be a part owner, partnered with Flavio Briatore, of the now defunct Ligier F1 team. He eventually purchased the Arrows F1 team that would sign champion driver Damond Hill. Ross Brawn was brough in as technical director for the Benetton team. We now know Ross Brawn for his namesake Brawn GP F1 team that won a constructors title in its first and only year of existence in 2009, as well as being the Technical director at Ferrari for all five of the Schumacher championships.

Following the end of the 1991 season and Nelson Piquet's retirement. His replacement for the 1992 season and first full season teammate to Schumacher, is another F1 icon, Martin Brundle. In his racing career he achieved 9 podiums, and scored a total of 98 championship points, but we know him today for his famous pre-race grid walks and being one of the most recognized voices in broadcasting the sport.

The Winning Years

Now that Flavio Briatore had put together his "rebel f1 super team" the successes soon followed. We mentioned Rory Byrne earlier. Byrne would make his mark in the formula one history books as the lead designer of all seven of Michael Schumacher's championship winning cars, two with Benetton and five with Ferrari. Together with technical director Ross Brawn, and the developments made by John Barnard the Benetton team were able to produce a car ready to fight for titles. The 1994 season Michael Schumacher and teammate, recently promoted test driver, Jos Verstappen would win six of the first seven races and claim multiple other podium finishes throughout the rest of the season. The results were not enough to dethrone William for the constructors trophy, but Schumacher with 8 wins would claim his first Drivers championship. The next season Benetton would begin its role as a Renault works team and adapt the new Renault V-10 engine. Test driver Verstappen was loaned out to the MTV-Simtek team for the '95 season. Johnny Herbert was brought in to the second car behind Schumacher. The pair would combine for 11 wins and Benetton would take the constructors title that year, as well as Schumacher claiming his second drivers title.

Benetton B-195 Driven by Michael Schumacher

Controversy and Decline

Benetton's 1994 season successes would be challenged by other teams. It was alleged the team was using a form of traction control outlawed by the sporting regulations. Investigations discovered the means to activate traction control in the engine management source code used by Benetton, however it could not be proven that they actually used it. Having the ability to activate traction control systems in itself was not illegal, using it during a race would have been. The team argued it was only used in testing and could not be activated during a race by the drivers. Ultimately the issue was dropped and the team faced minor fines for its initial refusal to cooperate with FIA investigators. Further controversy plagued the team following Jos Verstappen's car catching fire during the 1994 German Grand Prix. It was discovered the filters had all been removed from the filler hoses allowing fuel to flow into the car faster, thus decreasing fueling and pit stop times. Benetton claimed it was a defect sent from the manufacturer. Flavio Briatore would later say of the allegations "Our only mistake was that at the time we were too young and people were suspicious" pointing to the rapid success of the team and the doubts they did it all above board. Given Flavio's reputation, it seems a fair concern.

The rule changes that came out of Benetton's controversy changed the way F1 operates today. The standardizing of many electronic and engine management components is a direct reflection of Benetton, further preventing teams from having hidden settings buried in operating code.

The Last Chapter

Due to the repeated allegations of cheating and constant scrutiny Michael Schumacher would leave the team following his 1995 championship run and eventually make his way to Ferrari to cement his legacy with a further five title runs for the Maranello based team. Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn would follow Schumacher to Ferrari as well as many other mechanical and engineering staff.

The late 90s saw middling results for the team not racing under an Italian license. Never being able to replicate the magic of the Schumacher era, the teams best constructors finish was third in the '96 and '97 seasons. In 2000 the team would be sold to Renault and operate under the Benetton name. The engine manufacturing was sold the the Briatore owned Supertec company.

One of the final drivers to occupy the Benetton seat in its last season was Jenson Button. The eventual world champion was brough in as a replacement after being dropped by Williams the previous year. Button would later team back up with former technical director Ross Brawn to clam both a Drivers and Constructors title with Brawn GP.

Other Noteworthy Benetton drivers:

Giancarlo Fisichella - Three time Grand Prix winner

Jean Alesi - Grand Prix winner

JJ Lehto - Two time 24 Hours of Le Mans Winner

Alexander Wurz - Two time 24 Hours of Le Mans Winner and Current Chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers Association

Riccardo Patrese - Six Grand Prix wins, Runner up WDC 1992

Gerhard Berger - Ten Grand Prix victories

Johnny Herbert - Three time Grand Prix winner and SKY F1 presenter (2012-2022)

Benetton Today

2001 would final season the team operated as Benetton. It would be fully re-branded as the Renault for the 2002 season. The Renault Team would go on to win the drivers' and constructors' championships in both '05 and '06 with Fernando Alonso and retained driver Giancarlo Fisichella. The team was sold to Lotus 2012. In its brief years as Lotus F1 Team saw the likes of Heikki Kovalainen, Romain Grosjean, and Kimi Raikkonen all occupy seats. In 2016 Renault re-purchased the team and labeled it 'Renault Sport Formula One Team." then becoming Alpine in 2021. The team continues to operate from the headquarters at Enstone established by Benetton in 1992.

So the next time you hear that someone in this sport was at Benetton, you know some of the illustrious, and possibly infamous company that occupied those same garages.