Wolf WR7
Category | Formula One | ||||||||
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Constructor | Walter Wolf Racing | ||||||||
Designer(s) | Harvey Postlethwaite | ||||||||
Predecessor | Wolf WR5/6 | ||||||||
Successor | Wolf WR8 | ||||||||
Technical specifications[1] | |||||||||
Chassis | Aluminium monocoque, with engine as a fully stressed member. | ||||||||
Axle track | 1,626 mm (64.0 in) Rear: 1,626 mm (64.0 in) | ||||||||
Wheelbase | 2,667 mm (105.0 in) | ||||||||
Engine | Ford Cosworth DFV 2,993 cc (182.6 cu in) 90° V8, naturally aspirated, mid-mounted. | ||||||||
Transmission | Hewland FGA 400 5-speed manual gearbox, with Borg & Beck clutch. | ||||||||
Tyres | Goodyear | ||||||||
Competition history | |||||||||
Notable entrants | Walter Wolf Racing | ||||||||
Notable drivers | James Hunt Keke Rosberg | ||||||||
Debut | 1979 Argentine Grand Prix | ||||||||
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n.b. Unless otherwise stated, all data refer to Formula One World Championship Grands Prix only. |
The Wolf WR7 was a Formula One car for selected races of the 1979 season. Their drivers were 1976 champion James Hunt and Keke Rosberg. The engine was a Ford Cosworth DFV.
Competition history
The car was designed by Harvey Postlethwaite, previously responsible for the Hesketh 308 in which James Hunt won his first race. Wolf's former driver Jody Scheckter left the team at the end of 1978, going to Ferrari, where he would win the World Championship. He was replaced by 1976 champion James Hunt. When it was found that Hunt was unable to fit into the Wolf WR5/6 chassis, a new car had to be built in a haste prior to the season opener in 1979 Argentine Grand Prix.[2] The car proved unreliable and uncompetitve, with Hunt only finishing one of his five races in the WR7. The assertion made by Motor Sport Magazine ahead of the season that Hunt was a driver likely to "quickly lose interest" when not provided with a competitive machine[2] proved right when he left the team (and the sport) after the 1979 Monaco Grand Prix. Keke Rosberg took over his drive for the remainder of the season.
At the end of the 1979 Formula One season, Walter Wolf, owner of the team, pulled out of Formula One and sold the assets of his organisation to Wilson and Emerson Fittipaldi for the use of their Fittipaldi Automotive team. The WR7 cars were raced as Fittipaldi F7s in the early part of the 1980 Formula One season by Emerson Fittipaldi and Rosberg.
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Points | WCC |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1979 | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | ESP | BEL | MON | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | CAN | USA | 0 | 15th | |
James Hunt | Ret | Ret | 8 | Ret | Ret | |||||||||||||
Keke Rosberg | Ret |
References
- ^ "Wolf WR7". statsf1.com. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
- ^ a b "Formula One Teams for 1979". Motor Sport Magazine (January 1979): 26.
External links