FJR

FJR formerly FJ's Fast Squad are a team in FF1M. They have competed in every season of FF1M since its inception. They are managed by Formula James a.k.a Brickles. Their sister team in FF2M is STV Racing.

History

FJR have raced in 419 Grand Prix, taking pole position 37 times, winning 49 races in Masters and Management and a further 5 races in Retro FF1M. FJR have also won 3 constructor's championships [2001, 2004, 2006] and 2 driver's championship [2004 (Jarno Trulli), 2006 (Nico Rosberg)]. Race Winners for the team include Jenson Button, Jean Alesi, Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard, Jos Verstappen, Heinz Harald Frentzen, Mika Hakkinen, Kimi Raikkonen, Nick Heidfeld, Jarno Trulli and Nico Rosberg and Fernando Alonso. The first of these victories was at the 1991 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim with Jenson Button.

FF1M

Trials and Tribulations

FJR was one of the original 11 teams who took part in the first season of FF1M in 1988, although they were known back then as FJ's Fast Squad. Their drivers were Mika Hakkinen and Juan Pablo Montoya. Despite being the latest of the entries, Hakkinen scored a 2nd place in the debut race. However, FJ's unreliable squad would have been a better suited name with 21 retirements out of a possible 32 finishes. They ended the season 9th in the championship with 10 points.

In 1989, Brickles signed Frenchman Jean Alesi in the first of a remarkable 8 season stint with the team. Alongside Alesi was Englishman Johnny Herbert. Their highlights during the season were a double points finish in Monaco and Alesi’s 3 podium finishes at Magny-Cours, Monza and Indianapolis. The car got better as the season went on with both cars qualifying in the top 5 in the Japanese Grand Prix. FJR finished 6th in the championship.

Brickles changed his team name to FJR for 1990 and high hopes were predicted with Alesi being joined by Nelson Piquet, but despite a reliable car with only 7 retirements throughout the season, the car was slow and FJR could only manage five 5th place finishes and 12 points which saw them 9th in the championship for the second time in 3 seasons.

The Breakthrough

1991 saw FJR sign 1990 race-winner Jenson Button alongside Jean Alesi. Alesi was close to scoring FJR’s maiden win at Imola, but mechanical problems forced him out. It was Jenson Button who scored FJR’s first win at Hockenheim, having dominated from start to finish. This was followed by Alesi’s maiden victory at Spa. FJR could’ve mounted a stronger championship challenge had they not suffered from poor reliability throughout the season.

Having achieved their breakthrough victory, FJR set their sights on winning the championship in 1992. However Jenson had left the team and Felipe Massa was signed up alongside Alesi. 1992 proved to be a hit-and-miss season for FJR with a strong start to the season for both drivers before being trounced by Maestro Motorsport. Having led the championship early on, they finished 3^rd behind Maestro and M-Sport.

FJR were hopeful of beating the dominant Maestro Motorsport in 1993, retaining both race drivers and securing Renault engines. However, 1993 saw a major slump in form for FJR. Problems were evident in qualifying, which ultimately cost them points in the races. During the season, Massa had a terrifying crash at the Belgian Grand Prix when a collision with Michael Schumacher sent him airborne at Blanchimont. Not for the first time, 9th place was FJR's result in the constructor's championship

Renault and Massa were ditched for 1994, and in their places, FJR secured Mugen Honda engines and David Coulthard. AquinoPlus may have dominated the season but Alesi achieved best of the rest status behind both Aquino drivers. FJR also scored a one-two finish at the Luxembourg grand prix, Alesi's last win for FJR, but 5th place in the championship was all they could manage thanks to Coulthard’s relatively low position in the championship compared to Alesi.

1995 saw more changes to the structure of FJR and their highest prospects in the final season of the 'Masters' era. Coulthard was dropped in favour of 1988 world champion Michael Schumacher. Mugen engines were also dropped in favour of a Works Ferrari engine. A lot of money had been spent by FJR in preparation for this season, but the reality wasn’t so rewarding. Fernando Alonso and Renault engines dominated the championship while FJR Ferrari finished 4th. Schumacher did score 3 wins that season but he also spun out of the Austrian Grand Prix on lap 2 having started from pole. Alesi’s season was more disappointing as he was outpaced by Schumacher and only managed one 3rd place at Monza.

Due to the amount of money spent on the 1995 season, FJR were in financial trouble for 1996 and were restrained with low cost Ford engines. Alesi who was retained for what would be his last season for FJR, was joined by Giancarlo Fisichella. Despite low expectations at pre-season, FJR turned out to have a good season with frequent points finishes from both drivers, the main highlight being a podium finish for Alesi at the Belgian Grand Prix, the place where he scored his maiden win for the team. Both drivers finished in the top ten of the championship, and FJR finished 6th in the championship, although Alesi’s late retirement from 4th at the last race prevented FJR from securing 5th.

Frontrunners

It was all change for FJR in 1997 with a new tyre supplier, two new drivers, and the return of the powerful Renault engine. Also returning was Coulthard and he was joined by Dutchman Jos Verstappen, who was impressively consistent in the 1996 season. FJR had the fastest car in the second half the season resulting in 6 wins putting them 2nd in the championship. Coulthard’s 4 wins helped him to 3rd and only 8 points behind championship winner Damon Hill. Verstappen also had a good season with 2 wins placing him 5th.

With the success of 1997, FJR felt that they could challenge for championship glory in 1998, but a different Scot partnered Verstappen: Allan McNish, although the biggest change was the loss of Works support from the Renault-derived Mecachrome engine. With 3 races left, McNish and Verstappen contributed enough points for only 7th in the constructors. As a result, McNish was dropped in favour of Heinz-Harald Frentzen. This turned out to be a masterstroke as the German managed 3 podiums in 3 races including an impressively dominant drive at the last race. Frentzen help to elevate FJR to 4th in the constructor’s championship, a happy end to a generally disappointing season.

Frentzen was retained for the 1999 season and Mika Hakkinen had replaced Jos Verstappen. They also had a Works engine deal with Peugeot, so prospects were high for FJR. Frentzen showed that he had lost none of his speed by winning the first two races and pulling off a cheeky triple overtake at the Austrian Grand Prix. Hakkinen was also quick and won 2 races in the season, but reliability was an issue for FJR. 5 wins put them 2nd in the constructor’s championship.

2000 saw an all-German driver line-up for FJR as Michael Schumacher returned to the team to partner Frentzen. Schumacher’s arrival didn’t bode well for Heinz-Harald, as he had a number of collisions with other drivers in the beginning of the season. He did however score a brilliant win in the wet at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher had a better season than Frentzen, so much in fact that Michael was in contention for the championship despite an inferior car relative to Gui Racing and MRD. But reliability gremlins struck the German when he was in position to win the championship at a highly dramatic Japanese Grand Prix. The constructor’s championship had already been decided as FJR finished 3rd behind Gui Racing and MRD Racing.

Championship Years

2001 saw many rule changes and FJR were quick to sign the returning Renault engines. To maximise the Renault engine, FJR recruited Ricardo Zonta to specifically develop the engine throughout the season. Schumacher was joined by Kimi Raikkonen, who had been the best qualifier in 2000. The FJR was a reliable car in 2001 but the drivers made crucial mistakes at certain races. Despite the mistakes, Raikkonen and Schumacher took two wins a piece and had a particularly strong second half of the championship. Even though Raikkonen just missed the driver’s championship by 4 points, he and Schumacher took FJR to their first constructor’s championship by a single point.

Raikkonen and Renault were retained for 2002, but Schumacher was replaced by another German: Nick Heidfeld. After winning the constructor’s championship, FJR’s last box to tick was the driver’s championship. Despite two dominant victories in Brazil (Heidfeld) and Monaco (Raikkonen) and having the most reliable car, FJR's focus was on next season as they were developing their own car, and as a result, their performance had faded dramatically and ended up 5th in the constructor's championship. Raikkonen and Heidfeld finished 5th and 10th respectively.

Both drivers were retained for 2003, and as their own car technology had finished, FJR were hoping that their unique approached would pay off. Despite having relatively good reliability, they were no match for the highly advanced Dark Wolf and the Pedersen team in the first half of the season. FJR then used their own car to maximum advantage with a dominant 1-2 at Hockenheim, a circuit which ironically should have favoured the turbo's with its long straights. FJR then developed their own turbo and won again at Monza, but their speed cost them their reliability, finishing only twice out of a possible ten finishes in the last five races. Raikkonen and Heidfeld finished the season 4th and 10th and like 2002, both scored one win each.

Raikkonen departed FJR for Gui Racing in 2004, and Jarno Trulli took his place at FJR alongside Nick Heidfeld. FJR's main focus of pre-season was improving the reliability of the turbo and it paid off with only four mechanically related retirements throughout the season, all from Heidfeld. Despite the paddock view that their Bridgestone tyres were inferior compared to the Michelins, Trulli was more than fast enough to take six out of seven wins for FJR including an inspiring performance at Monza. With the opportunity to win the championship, Trulli's fuel strategy appeared to be very conservative, going a long way into the race. Once he pitted for fuel and fresh tyres though, his performance was spectacular. He went from 6th with 10 laps to go to take the lead from Coulthard on the last lap. He went on to take his third championship and a maiden driver's championship for FJR. Heidfeld took a very close 3rd and like his previous two years at FJR, scored one win, this time at the British Grand Prix.

Thanks to the success of 2004, FJR remained largely unchanged in 2005, only their Bridgestones were gone and Pirelli had become the sole tyre supplier. The new engine rules played into the hands of the normally aspirated engines of Pedersen and Gui Racing and so FJR had a difficult job balancing speed and reliability in his turbo. 3 double retirements in the early stages of 2005 heavily compromised his approach. The two drivers didn't help things to much either as an engine failure for Trulli in Canada caught Heidfeld out and the German broke his front wing. On FF1M and FJR's 300th race at Indianapolis, Trulli took advantage of Pedersen's questionable reliability and took the win. Overall however, their championship defences were unsuccessful as FJR finished 4th in the championship, with Trulli's win being the only one of the season.

There were major changes to the FJR team in 2006 as Petronas became their main sponsor as Mild Seven left for Shannon Racing, both drivers were replaced by up and coming young drivers; Nico Rosberg and Heikki Kovalainen and their also replaced their Renault turbo with a normally aspirated BMW engine in the hope for better reliability. Fortunately, FJR didn't have to endure pre-qualifying, a new feature of the 2006 season. The BMW engine proved to be reliable in the first three races and Rosberg even managed a podium in Malaysia. After the first mid-season test, Rosberg was on fire with pole position, fastest lap and victory at Imola. He followed that up with wins at Nurburgring and Monaco, and eventually became embroiled in a championship battle with Shannon's Vitantonio Liuzzi. The same couldn't be said for Kovalainen, poor results leading to his dismissal after Canada. Test driver Vitaly Petrov was trialled out for 4 races before Gui Racing's Michael Schumacher unexpectedly became a free agent and took the Russian's place for what proved to be the German's final 4 races in his illustrious career. His impact was immediate, winning first time out in Singapore and preventing Liuzzi from taking maximum points after Rosberg's retirement. Nico's remaining two victories of the season, Monza and Suzuka, were both affected by spins on the final lap but fortunately for him, he had enough of a lead to rejoin and hold on for the win. For the championship battle, only a win for rival Liuzzi and retirement for Rosberg would lose him the championship, but Schumacher was on top form, playing bridesmaid for his teammate and winning his final ever FF1M, guaranteeing Rosberg the drivers championship and helping FJR to their 3rd constructors title in 6 seasons.

The Decline

After Schumacher's retirement from FF1M, Ricardo Zonta was recruited to team up alongside world champion Rosberg in the BMW engined FJR for the 2007 season. The season started off well with a victory in the first race of the season for Rosberg, holding off Dark Wolf's Sebastian Vettel in the closing stages. He followed this up with pole position in the next round in Malaysia, but lap 2 was when things started to go wrong with mechanical failure forcing him out of the lead. He only appeared on the podium another 4 times and couldn't defend his championship. Having been out of FF1M for a while, Zonta's season was steady with 3 podium finishes. Thanks to the season long slump, FJR eventually finished 5th in the championship.

For 2008, Fernando Alonso was to partner Nico Rosberg after Ricardo Zonta announced his retirement the season before. The BMW engines were replaced with FJR's own turbo powered machine, 1 of only 3 teams to run such an engine in a grid that contained a record 15 teams. Alonso settled in well at FJR, taking 3 wins during the season. The first of these wins at the San Marino Grand Prix was particularly significant as it was the 50th recorded win for FJR name (The 2008 season ran between the 1987 and 1988 classic FF1M seasons). To date, the German Grand Prix By comparison, Rosberg's season was a disaster, failing to score in the first 9 races. This forced Brickles to take urgent action, bringing in Alexander Wurz for the final 8 races. Despite being race rusty, he managed to score 10 points including an impressive 4th place at Suzuka. But the turmoil regarding the 2nd driver meant that FJR could only manage 4th in the championship.

Retro FF1M

Classic

FJR also competes in the classic FF1M seasons. The first season, labelled as 1986, ran over ten races as Brickles signed Gerhard Berger and Thierry Boutsen to run on the McLaren chassis with the TAG-Porsche engine. Berger took two wins at Imola and at a chaotic rainy race Hockenheim, and was in contention for the championship at the last race, but lost out to Prost and Senna. FJR finished 2nd in the constructor's championship.

The second season (1987) saw a complete makeover for FJR; swapping the white and red livery for an all blue shade, Ferrari engines, and two new drivers, Alessandro Nannini and Andrea de Cesaris. Results weren't as fruitful as the season before and as a result, FJR dropped down to 6th in the constructors championship. Nannini however managed to secure one win at Suzuka.

Gerhard Berger returned to FJR for the 1988 season to team up with Martin Brundle in the Arrows chassis with Honda engines. It was a solid partnership with both drivers scoring on a regular basis. Berger took another win at Hockenheim and Brundle managed to surprise the FF1M paddock by winning at Monza after Riccardo Patrese blew an engine with 13 laps to go. To date, this is the last FJR win as this season ran between the 2009 and 2010 FF1M seasons. By the final race, the driver's championship was out of the question, but thanks to the virtue of having two drivers capable of scoring points, FJR were 3rd in the constructors and with an outside chance of the constructors championship (14 points behind with 15 on offer). They couldn't overhaul Shake n Bake, but they did managed to overtake Andy Racing for 2nd.

1950

FJR has also raced in the 1950 FF1M race at Silverstone as part of the 250th race celebration. Louis Rosier and B. Bira drove for the team using the Cooper chassis, but both drivers failed to reach the points, finishing 9th and 14th respectively

Results

FF1M

Year	Chassis/Engine	Ch. Pos	Races	Points	Wins	Drivers	Ch. Pos	Races	Points	Wins
1950	Cooper	6th	1	0		Louis Rosier	9th	1	0
						B. Bira	14th	1	0
1986 (C1)	McLaren/TAG	2nd	10	43	2	Gerhard Berger	3rd	10	41	2
						Thierry Boutsen	15th	10	2
1987 (C2)	LeClerc/Ferrari	6th	10	23	1	Alessandro Nannini	4th	10	22	1
						Andrea de Cesaris	17th	10	1
1988 (C3)	Arrows/Honda	2nd	16	65	2	Gerhard Berger	4th	16	42	1
						Martin Brundle	7th	16	23	1
1988 (M1)	Mugen	9th	16	10		Mika Hakkinen	9th	16	9
						Juan Pablo Montoya	18th	16	1
1989 (M2)	Ferrari	6th	16	35		Jean Alesi	8th	16	29
						Johnny Herbert	14th	16	6
1990 (M3)	Ford	9th	17	10		Jean Alesi	15th	17	4
						Nelson Piquet	14th	17	8
1991 (M4)	Mercedes	4th	17	93	2	Jean Alesi	8th	17	40	1
						Jenson Button	4th	17	53	1
1992 (M5)	Ilmor	3rd	16	84	1	Jean Alesi	7th	16	51	1
						Felipe Massa	8th	16	33
1993 (M5)	Renault (W)	9th	16	27		Jean Alesi	15th	16	15
						Felipe Massa	16th	16	12
1994 (M6)	Mugen Honda	5th	16	81	1	Jean Alesi	3rd	16	56	1
						David Coulthard	12th	16	25
1995 (M7)	Ferrari (W)	3rd	17	91	3	Jean Alesi	13th	17	18
						Michael Schumacher	3rd	17	73	3
1996	Ford	6th	16	48		Jean Alesi	9th	16	25
						Giancarlo Fisichella	10th	16	23
1997	Renault (W)	2nd	17	150	6	David Coulthard	3rd	17	86	4
						Jos Verstappen	6th	17	64	2
1998	Mecachrome	4th	17	75	1	Jos Verstappen	9th	17	33
						Allan McNish	14th	14	16
						Heinz Harald Frentzen	11th	3	26	1
1999	Peugeot (W)	2nd	17	134	5	Heinz Harald Frentzen	4th	17	76	3
						Mika Hakkinen	6th	17	58	2
2000	Peugeot (W)	3rd	16	113	3	Heinz Harald Frentzen	8th	16	37	1
						Michael Schumacher	3rd	16	76	2
2001	Renault	1st	16	141	4	Michael Schumacher	4th	16	65	2
						Kimi Raikkonen	2nd	16	78	2
2002	Renault	5th	16	92	2	Kimi Raikkonen	5th	16	62	1
						Nick Heidfeld	10th	16	30	1
2003	Renault	3rd	16	81	2	Kimi Raikkonen	4th	16	52	1
						Nick Heidfeld	10th	16	29	1
2004	Renault V10	1st	17	168	7	Nick Heidfeld	3rd	17	52	1
						Jarno Trulli	1st	17	116	6
2005	Renault V10	4th	17	74	1	Jarno Trulli	6th	17	41	1
						Nick Heidfeld	9th	17	33
2006	BMW V8	1st	17	155	7	Nico Rosberg	1st	17	119	5
						Heikki Kovalainen	16th	9	13
						Vitaly Petrov	N/A	4	0
						Michael Schumacher	7th	4	39*1	2
2007	BMW V8	5th	17	79	1	Nico Rosberg	5th	17	51	1
						Ricardo Zonta	9th	17	28
2008	FJR V10	4th	17	83	3	Nico Rosberg	13th	9	10*2
						Alexander Wurz	15th	8	10
						Fernando Alonso	3rd	17	73	3
2009	FJR V10	3rd	17*3	71		Robert Kubica	8th	17*3	43
						Felipe Massa	6th	17*3	28
2010	FJR V10	4th	18	60		Jenson Button	11th	18	27
						Romain Grosjean	9th	18	33
2011	Renault V8					Kimi Raikkonen
						Romain Grosjean

*₁ - 15 points were scored in the first 11 races while driving for Gui Racing.

*₂ - 10 points were scored in the final 8 races while driving for Dark Wolf.

*₃ - There were 18 races in the 2009 season but FJR failed to qualify for the United States Grand Prix.

STV Racing

STV Racing are run by Brickles in FF2M starting in Season 2.

FF2M

Season	Engine	Ch. Pos	Races	Points	Wins	Drivers	Ch. Pos	Races	Points	Wins
1998	Mugen Honda	1st	8	91	4	Heinz Harald Frentzen	2nd	8	71	4
						Pedro De La Rosa	8th	8	20
1999	Renault	2nd	12	131	2	Pedro De La Rosa	3rd	12	66	1
						Marc Gene	4th	12	65	1
2000	Renault	1st	12	130	6	Cristiano Da Matta	1st	12	87	6
						Oliver Gavin	17th	7	8
						Ricardo Zonta	10th	5	35
2001	Renault	3rd	12	119	5	Ricardo Zonta	1st	12	107	5
						Toranasuke Takagi	16th	12	12
2002	Renault	1st	12	162	7	Alexander Wurz	1st	12	104	5
						Enrique Bernoldi	3rd	12	58	2
2003	Renault	2nd	12	128	6	Christijan Albers	3rd	8	61	3
						Justin Wilson	6th	4	44	3
						James Courtney	12th	12	23
2004 (Asia)	Mecachrome	6th	8	47	2	Timo Glock	9th	8	18	1
						Christian Klien	7th	8	29	1
2004 (Europe)	Mecachrome	4th	8	62	1	Timo Glock	4th	8	36	1
						Christian Klien	9th	8	26
2005 (Asia)	Renault	3rd	8	70	1	Robert Kubica	1st	8	57	1
						Adam Carroll	15th	8	13
2005 (Europe)	Renault	4th	8	61		Tiago Monteiro	5th	8	41
						Nicolas Lapierre	10th	8	20
2006 (Asia)	Renault	2nd	10	95	2	Robert Doornbos	18th	10	5
						Neel Jani	3rd	10	90	2
2006 (Europe)	Renault	2nd	19	100	5	Neel Jani	4th	9	49	2
						Clivio Piccione	19th	10	6
						Vitaly Petrov	13th	11	19	1
						Heikki Kovalainen	8th	8	26	2