The car that never saw the finish line
Fondmetal is an Italian manufacturer of alloy wheels, founded in 1972 by Gabriele Rumi. A Formula One constructor, also owned by Rumi, it competed in the 1991 and 1992 seasons, scoring no championship points.
The Fondmetal GR01, was a Formula One car designed by Robin Herd and Tim Holloway for the Fondmetal F1 team. It was used in the first part of the 1992 season and was equipped with a Ford V8 HB engine.
Fondmetal fielded two cars, for rookie Swiss Andrea Chiesa (picture above, in the streets of Monaco where he did not qualify) and Italian Gabriele Tarquini (picture below). Tarquini showed speed, but the car was fragile. Indeed, the GR01 , which chassis and engine did not go well together, there were cooling troubles and reliability was poor, recorded poor qualifying results and the model never saw the finish line.
Things would go slightly better when, mid-season, the team introduced the completely new GR02, designed by Sergio Rinland. It had nothing in common with the Osellas and Fondmetals that preceded, but despite the best efforts of its drivers, Gabriele Tarquini and Belgian Eric van de Poele, who had replaced Chiesa for the last three races, GR02 could only manage a tenth place finish with van de Poele in Monza.