P1racenews AI automatic summary:
What happens when your big F1 break spirals into a farce
The Mastercard-backed Lola F1 project, with Lola T97/30 chassis and Ford Zetec-R V8 engines, turned out to be a total disaster in reality, despite the corporate support. The rush to launch the ‘F1 Club’ for cardholders to fund the team led to a haphazardly prepared car that struggled to compete. The lack of proper development time and wind tunnel testing, coupled with unreliable Ford engines from the defunct Forti team, put drivers Vincenzo Sospiri and Ricardo Rosset at a severe disadvantage. Sospiri failed to qualify for a race, blaming Jacques Villeneuve for his misfortune, while Rosset highlighted the lack of downforce and drag issues as major obstacles in driving the uncompetitive car. Their limited testing at Silverstone revealed serious handling issues, leaving both drivers frustrated with the overall performance of the Mastercard Lola team.
