Simtek — founded by Nick Wirth — entered Formula One as a backmarker team with limited funding, but with genuine technical credibility. The S941's name followed a clear convention: S for Simtek, 94 for the year, and 1 for Formula One. The car was powered by a naturally aspirated Ford HBD 6 V8 engine. The unit was acknowledged to be underpowered relative to the front of the field but proved reasonably durable, suffering only three mechanical failures across the entire season, all in David Brabham's car.
The S941's primary commercial identity was shaped by its MTV sponsorship, which gave the car a bold and recognizable livery. Additional sponsors included Barbara — an investor in the team — and Russell Athletics.
The 1994 season would prove one of the most tragic in Formula One history, and Simtek was directly touched by its darkest events. Roland Ratzenberger had been scheduled to drive the second S941 for at least the opening five races, limited by his available funding. At the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, he was killed during qualifying — the day before three-time World Champion Ayrton Senna lost his life in the race. It was the first driver fatality in Formula One since 1982. Following Ratzenberger's death, Simtek added an Austrian flag bearing the words "For Roland" to the airbox, a tribute the team carried for the remainder of the season.
Andrea Montermini replaced Ratzenberger for the Spanish Grand Prix but suffered a serious accident in practice, compounding the team's difficulties. The second seat was subsequently filled by Jean-Marc Gounon, Domenico Schiattarella, and Japanese pay driver Taki Inoue across the remaining rounds.
David Brabham was the team's anchor, completing the full season as the consistent driver in the first car. The S941 achieved 12 classified finishes from 32 starts. No points were scored; the team's best race result was Gounon's ninth place at the French Grand Prix, though he was four laps behind the winner at the flag. Simtek benefited in terms of grid position from the even slower Pacific PR01, which struggled to pre-qualify, making Simtek a step up from the very back of the field in most events.
At the Japanese Grand Prix late in the season, Simtek received sponsorship from Korean Air — a notable moment as it marked the first South Korean commercial involvement in Formula One, also serving to build the sport's profile in the country.
The Simtek S941 is remembered as a car of considerable circumstance rather than performance. The season unfolded against the backdrop of the sport's worst safety crisis in over a decade, and Ratzenberger's death — the first event in a catastrophic weekend at Imola — placed Simtek at the center of the grief that reshaped Formula One's approach to circuit safety and car design. The team continued into 1995 with the S951, but financial pressures eventually ended the Simtek project. The S941 itself left no points on the board but left a permanent mark on the record of a season that changed Formula One forever.