began sponsoring Formula One teams in with its sponsorship of Tyrrell. In both the and seasons, they sponsored the factoryAlfa Romeo team. At the end of 1985 Benetton stepped up its involvement in Formula One after acquiring the Toleman and Spirit teams. Following the Benetton family's acquisition, Toleman was renamed Benetton Formula in, and with the use of the powerful BMW engines as well as young Austrian driver Gerhard Berger, Benetton became a Grand Prix winner. South African Rory Byrne, head designer for the team who had designed the Benetton B186 that had given the team its first win, assisted former McLaren and Ferrari designer John Barnard with the design of the B190. The B190 was the team's first naturally aspirated car to feature the air box located above the drivers head. Its predecessors, the B188 and B189, featured twin air intakes located either side of the cockpit on top of the side pods. This was a carry over from the design of the turbocharged B187 from. All of the cars were designed by Byrne.
Competition history
The B190, which replaced the highly successful B189, utilized the Ford HBA4V8 engine. As Ford's official team in F1, Benetton were given the latest engine while customer teams had to make do with the older Ford DFR which Benetton had first used in. Through the season, Piquet and Alessandro Nannini successfully kept the B190 apace with other front runners including the V10 McLaren-Honda's and Williams-Renault's, and Ferrari's V12 with its Semi-automatic transmission, despite the power advantage the multi-cylinder engines had over the Ford V8. Indeed, at some races, the Ford-powered Benetton's were as fast in a straight line as the more powerful multi-cylinder engines, the lower weight of the V8 allowing the team to use less downforce which also reduced tyre wear. The FordHBA4 V8 engine produced approximately in 1990. This compared to for the Honda V10, for the Ferrari V12 and for the Renault V10. What the HBA4 lacked in power to the multi-cylinder engines was generally made up by being smaller and lighter than its main competitors, giving it a lower centre of gravity which offered a significant handling benefit. The Ford V8 had less frictional losses and therefore thermal discharge than its rivals, meaning less plumbing and smaller radiators could be used, significantly increasing the aerodynamic efficiency of the B190 and improving its co-efficient of drag, which explains the very competitive straight line speed of the B190 in 1990. After placing third in the Spanish Grand Prix, the popular, chain-smoking Italian Nannini was seriously injured in a helicopter crash near his home in Siena, Italy. The crash severed his right forearm, putting a premature end to a promising Formula One career. On Piquet's recommendation, he was replaced by Brazilian driver Roberto Moreno for the last two Grand Prix races. Piquet won the final two races of the season, including a 1–2 finish for Piquet and Moreno at the controversial Japanese Grand Prix. During the season's last race in Adelaide, Australia, Piquet won after holding off former Williams teammate Nigel Mansell who was racing in a Ferrari. During the race morning warm up in Australia, Piquet's B190 was the fastest car on the 900-metre-long Brabham Straight at . The 18 points gained from the last two races saw Piquet move to third in the Drivers' Championship, behind the year's champion Ayrton Senna and runner-up Alain Prost, and the team was awarded third place in the Constructors' Championship, again behind McLaren and Ferrari.
B190B
The B190 was updated for the first two races of the season and was dubbed the B190B. This updated model was subsequently replaced for the 1991 San Marino Grand Prix by the first "nose-up" car for the team, the B191.
