page_title: Arrows Grand Prix International
section_title: TWR Arrows
hierarchical_section_title: Arrows Grand Prix International / Racing history / TWR Arrows
caption_attribution_description: Damon Hill Arrows A18 (1997)
context_page_description: Arrows Grand Prix International was a British Formula One team active from 1978 to 2002. It was known as Footwork from 1991 to 1996.
context_section_description: After a failed attempt to buy Ligier, Tom Walkinshaw bought 51% of the team. In so doing he bought out Alan Rees' share in March 1996, and the team dropped the Footwork name. In taking over Arrows, he brought designer Frank Dernie with him from Ligier and dropped Alan Jenkins, who joined the new Stewart outfit. Walkinshaw had a history of success in various motor sport categories, having won the World Sportscar Championship for Jaguar three times, several touring car championships and had been behind Michael Schumacher's first world title. At the time, TWR was running the Holden Racing Team in Australia with great success. At home, Walkinshaw was operating the Volvo team in the British Touring Car Championship, and the Volvo and Arrows programmes were operated concurrently. 
  Walkinshaw had plans to turn Arrows into a world championship winning team. To that end in September he signed up World Champion Damon Hill and hired wealthy Brazilian Pedro Diniz to help pay for Hill's salary. His TWR operation moved the outfit to Leafield and put a new technical team in place. John Judd prepared the Yamaha sourced engine, while Dernie made way for John Barnard who was hired as designer and technical chief. The team nearly secured a maiden victory at the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix, where Hill started in third position and passed Michael Schumacher to take first place. Hill lead comfortably until with just two laps left, a rubber seal in the hydraulic system failed. Hill was overtaken on the last lap but he clung on to finish second.
  As Hill left Arrows after 1997 season to race for Jordan, the team contracted Finnish driver Mika Salo to partner Diniz for the 1998 F1 season. The 1998 season marked a new era for Arrows, as the team decided to build its own engines after buying out Brian Hart's preparation company. A V10 Arrows T2-F1 was made to power the cars for the team. It proved to be a difficult season, although both cars finished a respectable fourth and sixth at the eventful 1998 Monaco GP, and Diniz went on to score a single fifth place finish at the wet Belgian race. Arrows ended up finishing seventh in the Constructors' Championship, with a total of six points. Barnard left the team after a dispute with Walkinshaw, with Mike Coughlan taking over as technical director. At this point Zakspeed tried to buy Walkinshaw's shares in Arrows for around $40 million but terms could not be reached and the deal fell through.
  At the start of the 1999 Formula One season Malik Ado Ibrahim bought a 25% shareholding in the team, and his T-Minus brand appeared on the cars for most of the year. However, he too could not provide sufficient funding. The idea behind the T-Minus brand was that companies and corporations would purchase the rights to use the name and they would be permitted to use the brand to promote their products. Malik stated that he had intentions to use the brand in conjunction with Lamborghini but a deal never pulled through. An Arrows employee at the time stated 'The T-Minus brand has brought in absolutely no money over the year' and that 'It was simply a dream in the Prince's head and nothing materialised.' The year was a tough one. Money was tight and the car was a mild update of the 1998 model. A solitary point was scored all season. During 1999, Jackie Oliver sold his remaining shares, leaving Walkinshaw in complete control. A deal with equity company Morgan Grenfell who bought into Arrows kept the team afloat, but would have long term implications for TWR. The driver lineup also changed when the team brought in rookie Pedro de la Rosa and 1998 Tyrrell driver Toranosuke Takagi, who both brought much needed funds.
  In the 2000 season, Jos Verstappen returned to Arrows, where he had driven in 1996 alongside teammate Pedro de la Rosa. The chassis was an Arrows A21 with a Supertec (rebadged Renault) engine, the in-house built units proving unsuccessful. The Supertec engine was not the most powerful, but was still very good, and had been developed further for the season. Allied to an excellent aerodynamic package and good rear e
caption: At the 1997 British GP, Hill scored his first point for the Arrows team.
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