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| Tyrrell |
"Tyrrell"
Ken Tyrrell was among the crop of young drivers to come to prominence in the 500cc Formula Three era of the 1950s, a shoestring class which brought racing within the reaches of the likes of Stirling Moss and Peter Collins...
Tyrrell founded his own team in 1960, but the key date came four years later, when his long association with Jackie Stewart began. Although Stewart made his Fi debut with BRM in 1965, he continued to drive for Tyrrell when commitments allowed. In 1968 the two embarked on their first joint F1 adventure, in a Matra-Ford. Matra were new to the sport, and as well as running their own V-12 powered car, they supplied one to Tyrrell. The works car, driven by Jean-Pierre Beltoise, fared much worse than the Tyrrell version, which had been fitted with the Ford Cosworth DFV. Stewart missed out to Graham Hill in the title race, though at the Nurburgring that year he finished four minutes ahead of his rival, the biggest margin of victory in championship history.
"Six wins brings championship double"
Stewart and Matra-Ford swept the board the following year, winning six of the 11 rounds for a championship double. 1970 saw Matra receive backing from Chrysler France, making it politically impossible for the cars to use Ford power. With that door closed, Tyrrell ran a March that season, an interim arrangement while its own car was being developed. The Tyrrell 001 was on the grid before the end of the year, but it was 1971 when it came into its own. Stewart added six more wins to his tally, while second-string Francois Cevert took what would be his only career victory in the final round, Watkins Glen. Tyrrell also took the Constructors' title in what was its first full season running its own car.
"Clark's record broken"
There were four more wins in 1972 but Stewart was hampered by an ulcer and had to be satisfied with the runner-up spot behind Fittipaldi and Lotus. Those positions were reversed in 1973, a season in which the Scot set a new mark of 27 victories, beating Jim Clark's record. Watkins Glen would have been Stewart's tooth Grand Prix, and thoughts of bowing out at the top were crystallized as Cevert was killed during qualifying.
Having lost both his star and the heir apparent, Tyrrell gave Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler their first full season in F1. They finished third and fourth in the 1976 title race — the year of the famous P34 six-wheeler — with a one-two at Anderstorp the crowning moment. It was soon back to a conventional arrangement, but over the next 20 years successes were sporadic. Depailler did win at Monaco in 1978, a welcome victory after eight second-places, while Michele Alboreto had the honour of giving the Cosworth DFV its final victory at Detroit in 1983. But Tyrrell was consigned to a midfield position, and in 1997 the team was bought by British American Tobacco, who joined the circus as BAR two years later.