Over the years, Formula One has seen two teams compete under the same name but during completely different eras. Most people associate the ATS name with the brightly coloured lower-midfield team of the 1970’s and 80’s, but this was in fact the second occasion the name was seen in the sport.
Right: Logo of the German-owned team of the late-70’s and early-80’s. Source: statsf1.com
The Italian (Bodge) Job
Automobili Turismo e Sport was formed in the early 1960s and participated in the 1963 Formula One season. Team boss Romolo Tavoni and designer Carlo Chiti were ex-Ferrari employees and established ATS with financial support from Italian aristocrat, Count Giovanni Volpi. Chiti designed the ATS Tipo 100 with their own V8 engine throughout 1962 and it was ready for the second race of the 1963 season at Spa-Francorchamps.
Competing in just five races, ex-Ferrari drivers Phil Hill and Giancarlo Baghetti suffered four double-DNF’s, one 11th and one 15th place between them. The underpowered and fragile Tipo 100 was well off the pace and the team abandoned all Formula One endeavours after just one season.
The German Incarnation
14 years on, German business owner Hans Gunther Schmid wanted a Formula One team to promote his wheels company, Auto Technisches Spezialzubehor. He had a fiery temper, stringent views and was notoriously difficult to work with; leading to a large incoming and outgoing of staff throughout ATS’ existence in Formula One.
Schmid bought a Penske PC4 chassis in time for the fourth race of the 1977 season at Long Beach, to be driven by Frenchman Jean-Pierre Jarier. By Round 11 in Germany, a second chassis was bought for Hans Heyer, who was famously disqualified for failing to qualify but starting the race anyway. Jarier’s sixth place at Long Beach was the only point-scoring drive that year.
The team fielded their own chassis for 1978 as German Jochen Mass partnered Jarier in the Ford-powered HS1 chassis. 1982 World Champion Keke Rosberg replaced Jarier from the German to South African Grands Prix following a row with team boss Schmid. Hans Binder, Alberto Colombo and Michael Bleekemolen also drove at least one race for the team, as Mass’ seventh place at Interlagos was ATS’ best result that year.
Giacomo Caliri was the third designer in three years for the team as he produced the ATS D2-Ford for 1979. The team shrunk to a single-car operation, driven by Hans-Joachim Stuck of Germany. A poorly-handling car, it was swiftly replaced by the Nigel Stroud-designed D3, which scored the only points of the season as Stuck finished in fifth at Watkins Glen.
Schmid’s lively character was blamed for the departure of Stuck at the end of the season, as Marc Surer of Switzerland and Dutchman Jan Lammers replaced him in the now two-car operation. The 1980 challenger, the D4, was a Gustav Brunner design but resulted in a point-less season for the team.
Fielded again somewhat surprisingly for 1981, it was replaced by Herve Guilpin’s HGS1 chassis halfway through the season. The HGS1 scored ATS’ only points finish that year courtesy of Surer’s replacement, Slim Borgudd of Sweden, with a sixth-place finish at the British Grand Prix.
Eliseo Salazar and Manfred Winkelhock scored a fifth-place finish each in 1982, driving the heavily upgraded and renamed ATS D5-Ford. A 12th place finish overall in the Constructors’ Championship was ultimately ATS’ best finish in their Formula One history.
Schmid’s knowledge of the German motor industry and bullish nature enabled him to negotiate a deal with BMW to supply turbocharged M12 engines for the 1983 season. In the back of the Brunner-designed D6 chassis, it was the best-looking car ever to bear the ATS name. However, Winkelhock could not score points despite incredible qualifying performances, as reliability issues were left unsolved because staff simply did not stay loyal to the team.
Brunner returned in 1984 with the D7. Suffering reliability problems and lack of power, tensions with Schmid were strained and Brunner quit the team. Winkelhock yet again failed to score in 1984 and after several reliability problems dropped him out of points-paying positions, he quit before the end of the season.
ATS added a second chassis and fielded young hotshot Gerhard Berger. Despite a sixth-place finish at the Italian Grand Prix, Berger was not eligible for points as ATS had only registered as a one-car team that season.
At the end of the season, with almost no loyal staff, star driver or designer; BMW pulled out of supplying the team with engines and the team folded. The ATS name never appeared in Formula One again, but Schmid did. He was to set up the Rial team and if you want to know what happened, stay tuned to the F1 Teams A-Z series.
