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The team was founded in November 1977 by Italian businessman Franco Ambrosio, former drivers Alan Rees and Jackie Oliver, Dave Wass and Tony Southgate. The team name is based on the first letters of their last names.

Arrows was a British Formula One team, which competed in the championship between 1978 and 2002. From 1991 to 1996, the team competed under the name Footwork.

The first car was a copy of fellow Formula 1 team Shadow. Initially, the company of co-founder Ambrosio was supposed to be on the car as a sponsor, but after it was arrested for fraud, the team attracted Warsteiner as the main sponsor.

After the French Grand Prix in 2002, the Cosworth engines could no longer be paid for and Arrows disappeared for the rest of the season. Due to a lack of funds, the team struggled to survive and despite external investment and the purchase of parts from Prost Grand Prix, the FIA refused Arrows' application for registration for the year 2003, causing the team to disappear from Formula 1. The car, the intellectual property rights and the factory were taken over by Minardi, who used the car as a concept for their car for the next season.

Headquarters; Milton Keynes., UK

fa1 1978

The Arrows FA1 was a Formula One car used by the Arrows Grand Prix International team during the first half of the 1978 Formula One season.

The FA1 was in reality a Shadow DN9, which Tony Southgate had designed for Shadow whilst working as a consultant for them. Southgate mistakenly believed that because he had designed the Shadow DN9 whilst working as a consultant (and not a Shadow employee) that he owned the intellectual rights to the Shadow DN9 design. Based on this misconception Arrows built the FA1, which was essentially a carbon copy of the DN9.

The FA1 was banned by the London High Courts partway through the 1978 season after a legal protest from the Shadow team, on the grounds was a blatant copy of the DN9. The judgement handed down ruled that over 70% of the FA1 was identical to the DN9 and that all four Arrows FA1's should be broken up by Arrows and their parts handed over to the Shadow team.

Knowing it would lose the case, Arrows hurriedly designed and built a new car, the A1, whilst the court case was being heard and did not miss a race.

Signed to drive for Arrows in their maiden season was talented young Italian Riccardo Patrese and veteran German Rolf Stommelen. Patrese debuted the new car at the second round of the year in Brazil where he placed an impressive tenth.

The FA1 was powered by a Ford Cosworth DFV 90º, 2993 cc V8 engine, located mid, longitudinally. It produced 480 bhp.