Team boss Gabriele Rumi ended his relationship with the designers of the Fomet-1 after an unimpressive 1991 campaign. He initially held talks with Tom Walkinshaw Racing before awarding the contract to Sergio Rinland's Astauto studio. Rinland had prior experience with the Brabham BT60, and the GR02 was Astauto's first Formula One project.
Because the change in direction came too late for a completely new car to be ready at the start of the season, the Fomet-1 was updated into the GR01 as a stopgap. Both the GR01 and GR02 abandoned the old Cosworth DFR V8 in favour of a Ford HBA5 V8, a switch that delivered a power increase of more than 100 hp.
Development on the GR02 began at the start of 1992 and the first prototype ran at Ferrari's Fiorano test track in May of that year. The mechanical layout was simpler than the BT60, employing a Xtrac gearbox and twin shock absorbers at both ends. The aerodynamics were more unconventional: a chiselled nosecone and an anhedral front wing were designed specifically to channel air into the floor and diffuser. Autosport called the finished car "a huge step forward for a team which was once the joke of the F1 paddock," while BBC commentator Murray Walker praised it as an "excellent car, very good looking car, good performance but still a lot of development to do."
The GR02 made its debut at the 1992 Canadian Grand Prix with Gabriele Tarquini at the wheel. Although Tarquini qualified 18th, a gearbox failure eliminated him on the opening lap. A second chassis was completed for the following French Grand Prix, where Andrea Chiesa joined as Fondmetal's second driver; Chiesa damaged his car in a first-corner collision with the Jordan of Maurício Gugelmin, while Tarquini ran as high as 14th before a broken throttle cable ended his race after six laps.
At the British Grand Prix, Chiesa was forced to revert to the GR01 due to a shortage of spare GR02 chassis. Tarquini qualified 15th and finished 14th — one lap ahead of Pierluigi Martini and two ahead of Damon Hill — while setting the eighth fastest race lap, quicker than both Ivan Capelli's Ferrari and Mika Häkkinen's Lotus.
Tarquini qualified 19th at the German Grand Prix and was running inside the top ten when engine failure intervened on lap 33. For Hungary, Eric van de Poele replaced the underperforming Chiesa; Tarquini qualified an impressive 12th but was eliminated in a first-lap accident, while van de Poele retired on lap three.
At the Belgian Grand Prix, both cars qualified inside the top 15, with Tarquini 11th on the grid. His engine failed after 25 laps, but van de Poele reached the finish in tenth place, ahead of both March entries, both Jordans, and several other classified runners — a result that did nothing to ease the worsening financial crisis.
The Italian Grand Prix at Monza proved to be Fondmetal's final race. Limited resources restricted the team to minimal running during practice. Tarquini qualified 20th and van de Poele 25th; van de Poele's clutch failed before the first corner, and Tarquini lasted 30 laps before gearbox failure. Rumi considered signing pay-driver Giuseppe Bugatti to reach the Portuguese Grand Prix, but instead chose to withdraw the team entirely in the face of mounting debt.
Despite its brief competitive life, the GR02 left a notable impression as a well-designed car that exceeded the expectations typically attached to a small, underfunded team. After Fondmetal folded, it was rumoured that the GR02 had been developed further by Forti Corse as the basis of their FG01 entry in 1995, though the connection was never officially confirmed. The car stands as an example of strong engineering ambition curtailed entirely by financial circumstances rather than technical shortcomings.