As America's latest foray into Formula One is about ready to take flight, I think this is a great opportunity to revisit some of the American teams that came before. The first of this series is covers Penske Racing team and their time in Formula One.
Roger Penke is a legend in American racing. The results speak for themselves. Penske Racing has more than 300 victories to its name in almost every single major American motorsports category since the 1960's. However, people forget that Penske also dabbled in Formula One during the 1970's. A first, Penske was a part-time entry for the North American races only. Penske sponsored a second McLaren entry in the 1971 U.S. and Canadian Grands Prix. Penske driver Mark Donohue drove the car to a third place in Canada. However, due to a scheduling conflict with the USAC (what the IndyCar series was called at the time,) Donohue was replaced by current SpeedTV Formula One commentator David Hobbs who finished 10th in the race.
In 1974, Penske decided to enter the world championship as a full-time entry. Penske built their own chassis for North American part of the F1 calender. Named the PC1, they coupled it with a Cosworth DFV engine and Hewland gearbox. The car debut at the 1974 Canadian Grand Prix with Mark Donohue at the wheel. Donohue was lured out of retirement by Penske to headline the Formula One team. In Canada the new car placed 12th on its debut. At the U.S. Grand Prix at Wakins Glen, the car retired with suspension failure.
For the 1975 season, Penske decided to run the entire season. They entered the same PC1 chassis from the previous season and Mark Donohue was again given the drive. The car show moderate potential but was difficult to handle. The car retired in three of its' first five races all due to accidents. When the car did finish it was usually in the top ten, including a fifth place at the Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp. After retiring from the French Grand Prix, Penske purchased a March 751 chassis for the remainder of the season while they sorted their chassis development. The new Penske-March car scored a fifth place on its debut at the British Grand Prix.
