Tyrrell 019

Browse pages
Current page

1

Current page

2

Current page

3

Current page

4

Current page

5

Current page

6

Current page

7

Current page

8

Current page

9

Current page

10

Current page

11

Current page

12

Current page

13

Current page

14

Current page

15

Current page

16

Current page

17

Current page

18

Current page

19

Current page

20

Current page

21

Current page

22

Current page

23

Current page

24

Current page

25

Current page

26

Current page

27

Current page

28

Current page

29

Current page

30

Current page

31

Current page

32

Current page

33

Current page

34

Current page

35

Current page

36

Current page

37

Current page

38

Current page

39

Current page

40

Current page

41

Current page

42

Current page

43

Current page

44

Current page

45

Current page

46

Current page

47

Current page

48

Current page

49

Current page

50

Current page

51

Current page

52

Current page

53

Current page

54

Current page

55

Current page

56

Current page

57

Current page

58

Current page

59

Current page

60

Current page

61

Current page

62

Current page

63

Current page

64

Current page

65

Current page

66

Current page

67

Current page

68

Current page

69

Current page

70

Current page

71

Current page

72

Current page

73

Current page

74

Current page

75

Current page

76

Current page

77

Current page

78

Current page

79

Current page

80

Current page

81

Current page

82

Current page

83

Current page

84

Current page

85

Current page

86

Current page

87

Current page

88

Current page

89

Current page

90

Current page

91

Current page

92

Current page

93

Current page

94

Current page

95

Current page

96

Current page

97

Current page

98

Current page

99

Current page

100

Current page

101

Current page

102

Current page

103

Current page

104

Current page

105

Current page

106

Current page

107

Current page

108

Current page

109

Current page

110

Current page

111

Current page

112

Current page

113

Current page

114

Current page

115

Current page

116

Current page

117

Current page

118

Current page

119

Current page

120

Current page

121

Current page

122

Current page

123

Current page

124

Current page

125

Current page

126

Current page

127

Current page

128

Current page

129

Current page

130

Current page

131

Current page

132

Current page

133

Current page

134

Current page

135

Current page

136

Current page

137

Current page

138

Current page

139

Current page

140

Current page

141

Current page

142

Current page

143

Current page

144

Current page

145

Current page

146

Current page

147

Current page

148

Current page

149

Current page

150

Current page

151

Current page

152

Current page

153

Current page

154

Current page

155

Current page

156

Current page

157

Current page

158

Current page

159

Current page

160

Current page

161

Current page

162

Current page

163

Current page

164

Current page

165

Current page

166

Current page

167

Current page

168

Current page

169

Current page

170

Current page

171

Current page

172

What an amazing car this turned out to be and one that was so much better than I’d expected. I’d been rightly told before I’d even sat in it that the tyres were old and had been hot and cold dozens of times, that they came from an F3000 car and had no heaters. But I went out, and within hall a lap, I was thinking “hang on, this thing’s actually got some grip.” Then I drove it harder, realised it in fact had a lot of grip and, what’s more, a great balance too.

What is most astonishing about it is that, though the car is ten years old, if you took some time to set it up properly and put a fresh set of tyres on it, its grip in slow corners would compare favourably to the very best cars out there today. In fact I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you could slice up to a tight apex quicker in this Tyrrell than in a modern Formula One car. The problem with the cars today is that the grooved tyres they are forced to run have really messed with the grip in such corners; I’ve driven the McLaren two seater and last year’s Jordan and they both squirm around all over the place in tight turns whereas this Tyrrell felt just terrific, right from the outset. And whatever the relative speeds, one other important thing I tell you for sure: the Tyrrell is more fun in slower corners than a modern F1 car.

Of course, coming away from the corner you’d feel as if someone had whipped a couple of spark plugs out of the engine. The V8 Cosworth DFR in the back felt like it had pretty much had enough at 10,500rpm; today it is only modern electronics which means the engines will work at all at such revs; they don’t start delivering meaningful power until 13,000 or 14,000rpm, by which stage I guess the DFR would have spread itself all over the tarmac. Even so, it was a flexible engine with good driveability even if with only around 620bhp, it was rather lacking in power compared to today’s 3-litre cars.

What I noticed most about it, and how it differs to Grand Prix machines made both before and after this era, is just how little room there is inside. When this car was built, they knew then that the less space there was for the driver, the better the aerodynamics would work and the easier the rest of the car would be to package. It’s alright for me because I’m not a particularly tall bloke but I remember Gerhard Berger doing a lot of campaigning and, at the time, I didn’t relate to it. But see how spacious an F1 car is today, with all the room around the driver that the safety regs now require, and it’s amazing to see what a small space we used to cram outselves into. And even I remember losing circulation in my feet during races.

These days, in F1 cars you are lying in a carbon-fibre bath tub with your head sticking out at the top: you feel invincible. It’s not like that in the Tyrrell; of course, at the time you’d not think twice about slicing up the side of someone because, back then, no-one knew any better and it’s the same right the way through the history of F1. I’d think about it now… Martin Brundle