There’s only one team that managed to break all records for the worst team in Formula 1 history. And it hailed from the same country as Ferrari, Maserati, and Lamborghini.
Andrea Moda Formula was based in the rolling hills of central Italy, where a fledgling shoe magnate had begun his successful business. Why Andrea Sassetti thought his footwear acumen should translate to Formula 1 success is a mystery, nonetheless, he paid the half-million dollar entry fee to join the Circus and cobbled together an unlikely group that managed to fail spectacularly.
Bernie Ecclestone, disgusted by the racing team’s inability to place anything but last, tried – and failed – to eliminate them from the competition; he did, however, manage to change the entry rules, ensuring a minimum of professionalism in future Circus teams.
The intrepid team’s “Frankenstein” racecar, driven by future “Stig” Perry McCarthy, was missing from nearly a dozen qualifying races because of exploding engines, no-shows by McCarthy himself, and drivers escaping the paddock. Miraculously, the team managed to qualify for the Big One: Montecarlo.