In September 1991, Sassetti bought the Coloni F1 team after it had failed to pre-qualify a car for every single race that year. Coloni's four-year history resulted in 14 starts in 82 attempts. The team had not qualified or pre-qualified for a race since Roberto Moreno started 15th at the 1989 Portuguese Grand Prix – meaning the team had qualified for no races throughout the 1990 and 1991 seasons – while its best finish was an 8th place for Gabriele Tarquini in the 1988 Canadian Grand Prix.