Tecno's Formula One car made its first competitive appearance at the 1972 Belgian Grand Prix in the hands of Nanni Galli. The team chose to adopt the colour red for the chassis, partly to honour the long-standing tradition of Italian racing teams competing with that tonality, and partly to better accommodate their title sponsor. The engine, designed by Luciano Pederzani, Renato Armaroli and Giuseppe Bocchi, was a flat-twelve engine very similar to the contemporary Ferrari unit, although apparently considerably less powerful. Galli managed to finish third in the non-valid for the championship 1972 Italian Republic Grand Prix in Vallelunga, but he wouldn't score points for the rest of the season. For the Italian Grand Prix Tecno fielded a second car driven by Derek Bell. Although Galli outqualified Bell, team manager David Yorke elected to retain Bell for the final two races in North America, terminating Galli's involvement with the company.