The family Benetton, famous for their clothing company, were as a sponsor already active in the formula 1. In 1985, they bought the English Toleman team. The new name would be Benetton Formula 1. When they won a race in 1986, they became an official factory team for Ford.
But results were poor. So the family put Flavio Briatore in the function of director of their team. He had been responsible for starting the Benetton clothing business in the USA, but had no experience with car racing. Immediately he collided with Peter Collins, team chef. Collins wanted to give Johnny Herbert a chance in the team next to Alessandro Nannini. But Herbert was still recovering from a huge accident in the F3000 race at Brands Hatch in 1988.
Chief designer Rory Byrne pencilled a new and ultra slim B189 chassis to accommodate the new 75 degree V 8 Ford HB Engine from Duckworth. The engine made it possible to design a more tidier car, but also more lighter and aerodynamically more effective than the B188. Unfortunately, due to complex technical problems with engine and chassis, the 189 made its debut only in the summer.
When the 1989 season started, it was immediately evident that Herbert was physically not good and had problems with braking. And the Benetton B189 was not ready yet; it was only at the French GP that the HB-engine and the B189 did his first race. Briatore at that time had already fired Peter Collins and had put Herbert out of the team. Herbert: “Briatore did not had the balls to call himself; his secretary had to do it.”
When Herbert was not qualified in Canada, he was replaced by Italian Emanuele Pirro. The B189 was designed around two drivers that were a bit shorter than the longer Pirro. His helmet was way out of the cockpit and in the race at Jerez his legs were so cramped that his nerve in his leg got pinched and he was unable to brake. And the Italian also had a busy agenda as a test driver for McLaren, some races in Japan, and the 24h Nürburgring. At the end of 1989 after a P5 in Australia,(and Nannini P2) he heard nothing anymore from Briatore, so his days at Benneton were over without even a phone call.
There was one happy end for Benneton in the 1989 F1season. Alesandro Nannini won the Japanese GP. In that race there was the famous clash between Aryton Senna and Alain Prost. Senna could continue and got a new nose put on in the pits. But he got disqualified for using a shortcut on the circuit. Nannini was declared the winner. That gave the Benetton team a fourth place in the F1 standings.
During the 1989 season there were in total eight B189 chassis made. They were also used in the first two races of 1990 for Nelson Piquet and Alessandro Nannini in a B version with a new front wing, undertray and rear wing. Flavio Briatore got ex-Ferrari designer John Barnard on board. That resulted in Rory Byrne leaving. He would return at the end of 1991 and was one of the forces behind the winning of the world champion title in 1994 and 1995 by Michael Schumacher.
