Lola had a strong F1 pedigree. Having built its first F1 car, the Mk4, for , the company had since built cars which had been run by the Honda, Embassy Hill, and Larrousse teams; the "Hondola" RA300 proving to be a race winner at the 1967 Italian Grand Prix. It was also up-to-date, as its most recent association with Larrousse had ended in , and had also built chassis for many other motorsport formulae. The partnership between Scuderia Italia and Lola was therefore seen as a long-term strategy to move the team to the front of the F1 field.