Bellasi F1 Team logo, originally created by CLRiviera. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Background was added and image was slightly edited from the original transparent version. (Link credits at the end of the content)
Bringing stories from the past every day, one of the more intriguing chapters comes from a true privateer effort, the Bellasi F1 team, where a determined driver set out to do something rare even for its time, build and race his own F1 car against the sport’s biggest names.
No massive budgets, no factory backing… the team was founded by Guglielmo Bellasi; the company that had already made a name in lower categories, particularly in Formula 3.
Bellasi F1 Team
Guglielmo Bellasi was already known in racing and had experience in other categories before F1. He wasn’t particularly interested in F1 at first, but things changed when Silvio Moser approached him with a bigger idea.
At CarsRave, we try to keep these stories alive. Over time, we’ve covered many forgotten Formula 1 teams, each with its own story buried in the past. It takes time to build these pieces properly, so they do more than just tell a story, they explain it. Slowly, we’re putting that together, one team at a time.
Silvio Moser Took Decision… That Changed Everything
Swiss driver Silvio Moser wasn’t just looking for a drive… this is where the story started for Bellasi F1 team.
The driver wanted control; something more personal than renting a seat in someone else’s car.
By the end of 1960s; he had already experienced F1 with teams like Brabham, but the results were inconsistent… and then came the problem!
New safety regulations for 1970 season, required fuel bag tanks, something his existing Brabham BT24 couldn’t easily accomodate.
Instead of simply buying another chassis; Moser made a bold and risky decision, he approached Bellasi with a requiest that sounds almost unbelievable today… build him a F1 CAR!
We tell these stories in a simple, storytelling style, so you can understand what Formula 1 was like back then, without making it too long to read.
The Bellasi F1 70
Unfortunately, we could not include images, as most available ones are not free to use.
The result was the Bellasi F1 70…
Bellasi designed a brand-new riveted aluminum monocoque chassis; it was modern enough to meet regulations, and on paper, it looked like a step forward.
But beneath that skin, much of the car was borrowed, the engine, gearbox, suspension elements, even smaller components came directly from Moser’s old Brabham.
However, this is all he wanted, build a car to compete…. and at the heart of Bellasi F1 70 sat the legendary Ford Cosworth DFV V8 engine, producing around 445 horsepower.
But things didn’t go well from the start for Bellasi, the car struggled from the beginning; it was heavier than its rivals, less refined aerodynamically, and often described as bulky.
Even in an era where F1 cars were still evolving rapidly; the Bellasi looked car wasn’t good enough to compete with the best.
A Short and Difficult Life on Track
Bellasi F1 Team entered six races between 1970 and 1971.
That number alone hints at how difficult were for them, most of the time they didn’t qualify.
When it make the grid; the results were short lived… the debut came at the Austrian GP in 1970, where Moser managed to start the race, it felt like a small victory for them, but after just 13 laps, a radiator failure ended the race for them.
Another race at the Italian GP, it lasted only five laps before suspension failure, and without much attention, the project came to an end.
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Why It All Fell Apart
Their failure wasn’t caused by a single mistake.
For Bellasi F1 Team, it was a slow collapse driven by several pressures that many small teams of that era faced.
Money was the biggest problem, racing at this level required constant devleopment, travel, and resources.
Bellasi and Moser simply didn’t have enough of it.
At one point, they even skipped races because the financial return didn’t justify the cost of attenting.
Performance on track was another issue; even with a strong engine, the rest of the car couldn’t match established teams.
Eventually; even Guglielmo Bellasi himself advised stepping away, it wasn’t dramatic decision, but realistic one.
Anecdote: In the 1970s, many privateer teams failed just like Bellasi. One example is the Connew team in 1972, which entered only a single race before disappearing, largely due to a lack of sponsorship. It was a common story in that era, and there are many more like it that you can find on our website.
A Quiet Legacy Beyond F1
What makes the Bellasi story interesting isn’t just results, but what came after.
Instead of disappearing; the company evolved, by the early 1980s, they shifted focus toward composite materials and carbon fiber manufacturing; that decision, unlike the F1 project, proved to be more successful.
However, Bellasi SRL still operates in Italy; producing high-end components for automototive and insdustrial applications.
In a way; the failure in F1 forced the company to find a more sustainable path!
The Human Side of the Story
There is also a more personal layer to this story, one that often gets overlooked, Silvio Moser wasn’t chasing glory, he was chasing independence, trying to build something of his own in a sport that rarely allowed it.
His career continued after Bellasi, but it never truly reached the level he might have hoped for.
Looking back; the project of Bellasi feels like a snapshot of a different era in F1.
A time when drivers could commision cars, when small constructors could still attempt to enter the sport.
A Forgotten Team: Bellasi F1 Team
Bellasi F1 Team will never appear in lists of great F1 teams; there are no wins, or podium, not even a finish worth remembering statistically.
But that misses the point!
The team represent something modern F1 has almost completely lost; the idea that someone, with limited resources and a strong belief, could attempt to build their own car.
It didn’t work, in fact, it failed quite clearly, but for a brief moment, Bellasi existed on the same grid as giants, and sometimes, that alone tells a story worth remembering!
FEATURED IMAGE CREDITS: Bellasi F1 Team logo, originally created by CLRiviera. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons. Background was added and image was slightly edited from the original transparent version.
