The team was known to be keen to move up to F1, and was expected to enter the season, but instead chose to buy 51% of the financially struggling Forti team prior to the 1996 Spanish Grand Prix. The deal resulted in the Forti cars switching from a yellow to a green, white and red livery. The deal, however, fell through and resulted in a dispute between Shannon and Guido Forti over ownership of the team, with Forti alleging non-payment. The case went to court and resulted in the team running out of money and withdrawing from Formula One, meaning that Shannon's eventual victory was essentially meaningless. By the end of the season, the teams run by Shannon in other formulae had also ceased to exist.