Osella

Italian racing car manufacturer and Formula One team

Enzo Osella's Decade of Persistence

A sports car and Formula Two builder from Piedmont, Osella spent eleven seasons in Formula One on a small budget and rare rewards.

Enzo Osella, a former rally driver, founded his company in 1965 and built a reputation with sports cars and in Formula Two, where Eddie Cheever won races for the team. With tobacco sponsorship behind it, Osella stepped up to the World Championship in 1980 with a Cosworth powered car and Cheever at the wheel, later switching to Alfa Romeo engines.

Osella started 132 Grands Prix from 1980 to 1990. Jean Pierre Jarier finished fourth at Imola in 1982 for the team's first points, and Piercarlo Ghinzani, its most frequent starter, was fifth in Dallas in 1984. The 1982 season also brought tragedy when Riccardo Paletti was killed in a start line accident in Canada. In 1990 Gabriele Rumi of Fondmetal bought into the team, took full control at the end of that year and renamed it Fondmetal.

Drivers

Scroll to Top