The team's origins lay in Sassetti's purchase of the Coloni F1 team in September 1991, after Coloni had failed to pre-qualify for every single race that year. Coloni's four-year history had produced 14 starts from 82 attempts; the team had not competed in a race since Roberto Moreno started 15th at the 1989 Portuguese Grand Prix. Coloni's best result had been an eighth-place finish by Gabriele Tarquini at the 1988 Canadian Grand Prix.
Sassetti retained a number of ex-Coloni staff and reached a deal with Simtek to run a chassis the British firm had designed in 1990 for BMW. Renamed the Andrea Moda S921 and fitted with Judd V10 engines, the cars were not ready for the start of the season.
For the season opener in South Africa, Sassetti arrived with a modified Coloni C4B chassis for drivers Alex Caffi and Enrico Bertaggia. The team was immediately excluded for failing to pay the $100,000 entry deposit required of new teams. Sassetti argued his team was not new since he had taken over Coloni, but the FIA pointed out that he had neglected to purchase Coloni's entry to the championship itself. In Mexico the cars were still being built.
Both Caffi and Bertaggia were subsequently dismissed after criticising the team's preparation. For the Brazilian Grand Prix, experienced campaigner Roberto Moreno and Perry McCarthy — who had previously tested for Williams and would later gain public fame as The Stig on BBC's Top Gear — were nominated as drivers. McCarthy was refused a Super Licence and did not run. Moreno managed the car's first competitive runs but failed to pre-qualify.
At the Monaco Grand Prix, Moreno successfully navigated pre-qualifying and then qualifying to start 26th on the grid — Andrea Moda's sole World Championship qualifying appearance. He retired after 11 laps with engine failure. McCarthy's car was eliminated in pre-qualifying with a recorded time of 17 minutes and 5.924 seconds.
The team's situation deteriorated further as the season progressed. At the Canadian Grand Prix, Sassetti had failed to pay engine supplier Judd; a borrowed engine from Brabham allowed Moreno a few laps but he failed to pre-qualify. McCarthy was again unable to run. The team missed the French Grand Prix entirely because its truck was caught in a blockade by French truck drivers — every other team managed to negotiate through. Sponsors withdrew, leaving Sassetti to fund the team himself.
McCarthy's treatment by the team worsened: at the British Grand Prix he was sent out on wet-weather tyres on a dry track; at the Hungaroring he was allowed out of the pit lane with only 45 seconds remaining in the pre-qualifying session, making a representative lap time impossible. The FIA warned the team to make a meaningful attempt to run McCarthy's car or face exclusion.
At the Belgian Grand Prix, both Andrea Moda cars were guaranteed entry into qualifying because Brabham's withdrawal had reduced the entry list to 30 cars, eliminating the pre-qualifying session. In qualifying, Moreno's car was 13 per cent slower than pole position, and McCarthy — who suffered an accident during his session — was 22 per cent slower. Neither qualified. During the same weekend, Sassetti was arrested in the paddock on allegations of forging auto-part invoices.
On 8 September 1992, the FIA World Motor Sport Council expelled Andrea Moda Formula from the remainder of the 1992 season, citing failure to operate the team in a manner compatible with the championship's standards. The team was refused entry into the paddock at Monza for the Italian Grand Prix.
Andrea Moda Formula's single World Championship start — Moreno's Monaco entry and retirement — stands as the sum total of the team's competitive achievement across nine attempted events. Perry McCarthy later wrote candidly about his experiences with the team, and the story became a reference point in discussions of dysfunction and mismanagement in Formula One. In October 2023, a documentary film entitled Last and Furious — The True Story of the Andrea Moda Formula was presented at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, underlining the enduring infamy the team had acquired in the sport's history.