The story about Simtek, Simulation Technology, goes beyond their two years they appeared on the grid. Established by Nick Wirth and Max Mosley in 1989 as Simtek Research. Initially born as a company that supported teams in the Formula One with developing programs, calibrate wind tunnels, assist teams and so on. The first time Simtek made a Formula One design was in 1990/1991 for BMW. At that time, BMW was looking into the Formula One as team. It seems that the S192 is a top-secret study, as not much is known about the project. However, in 1992 Andrea Sassetti purchased the design and appeared with the Andrea Moda S921 on the grid as they were excluded to use the previous year used Coloni C4B. In 1993, another Simtek design was debut the S931 for the Spanish Bravo team.
AS you probably know, the Bravo F1 adventure ended abruptly with the dead of Jean-Francois Mosnier. Some question if the team would have debuted in 1993. However, I believe they would as Nick Wirth designed the car for them the S931. Before Mosnier’s dead the scale model was shown to the world with Jordi Gené proudly standing behind it. The S931 was an updated S921. The team had cancelled their entry before the start of the season.
It didn’t meant the end for Simtek Research and their aspirations to bring a car on the grid. Only weeks after Bravo left the Formula One Autosport reported on the 20th of May 1993 that a new British Formula One car was on it’s way to appear on the grid in 1994.
Nick Wirth was now the full owner of the team as Max Mosley sold in an earlier stage his shares in the company, as he required the role as FIA president. He stated that he was done with supplying other teams with cars that would eventually not appear on the grid. Taking matter in his own hands, he decided to bring his own team on the grid. Simtek was born as a team. Ready to appear on the grid in 1994. At first, it seemed that the Simtek S941 was to become a brutal and revolutionary car.
Wirth came up with the idea he called a cantilever system. Which meant that the front suspension had no wishbones and the geometry and steering mechanisms were put inside the wheels. While it was more complex, it meant that the car was aerodynamic more sufficient and had a less weight. In the early stages of the design, Nick stated that the car should be ready late in the summer so I would be available for intensive testing. Soon after David Brabham signed a contract with the team for 1994. He would also do, was the plan, most of the testing in the early stages. A contract with Ford was soon made for the use of their HB V8 engines.
However, during the 1993 season there were changes announced in the 1994 regulations which meant that the cantilever system was forbidden to be used. Therefore, the design of the S941 had to be changed slightly. The car was now ready in October 1993 to be tested. Interestingly were the drivers that were rumoured for the second seat. Simtek was looking for a driver outside the Formula One. Jos Verstappen, Emanuel Naspetti and Gill de Ferran were rumoured to fill the empty seat.
