For the 1987 F1 season the Benetton team took over the Ford motorsport program, previously destined for the Haas team, which had left Formula 1 in late 1986. The Ford Cosworth Turbo V6 engines then went to the team of Thierry Boutsen and Teo Fabi , who proved to be competitive at the wheel a car that never managed to overcome some reliability issues. The best result was Boutsen's third place at the Australian GP.