Grand Prix Insider

An imposing figure, two metres of height and of corresponding weight, Robert Kenneth Tyrrell once had been a woodcutter and also a timber merchant. As a racing driver he had got only average talent, his excellent ability was being a manager. And among the team principals of Formula One he was absolutely the most solid.

Tyrrell was responsible for discovering Jackie Stewart, whom he had race for his team in Formula Junior in the mid 60s. With the help of Elf and Ford, Tyrrell achieved his dream of moving to Formula 1. Ken Tyrrell had visions enough to be the first one to order the Ford Cosworth V8 engine, when he had heard the news this unit would be on the market in 1968. Matched with the careless built, but absolutely good looking Matra MS 80 and one Jackie Stewart behind the wheel, the team secured both the drivers’ and the constructors’ world championships. Until today Ken Tyrrell is the only one, winning the Formula One world championship with a private team.

As a next step Ken Tyrrell began to establish himself as a constructor in his own right. But that had been kept like a military secret. A racing car winning the world championship, built in a pretty wide hut in the forests near Ripley, where, in a green belt, no buildings out of bricks or concrete were allowed to be constructed, is something unimaginable today. But Ken did it with Jackie Stewart securing the title in 1971 and 1973 with runner-up sport in the year between.

During his early years in F1, “Uncle” Ken, as he was affectionately known, reached the peak of his career. However, he was profoundly affected by the death of his driver François Cevert in practice for the 1973 US Grand Prix. In the following years, after Stewart had retired, Tyrrell would slip down the ranks until it became a midfielder team.

Ken Tyrrell was the father figure for a whole generation of racing drivers, and a lot of them he had discovered and made stars out of them. Natural talents such as Jody Scheckter, Ronnie Peterson, Patrick Depailler, Didier Pironi, Martin Brundle, Stefan Bellof, Michele Alboreto and Jean Alesi

Still, Tyrrell found the time to introduce new concepts for F1. In 1976, the Tyrrell team created the six-wheeled P34. The Derek Gardner designed single-seater achieved a race victory but it was abandoned after Goodyear refused to develop the small tires needed for the car as they were too busy fighting the other tire manufacturers in F1.

His business was based on confidence, not on contracts. Written ones had not existed in the early days. Loyalty is something that is based on reciprocity, not on juridical terms. You cannot force it by taking legal action.

But for individuals like Ken Tyrrell or Rob Walker there was no more space in this business, Ken Tyrrell was a man of the fifties, sixties and seventies, no industrial strategist for the 21st century didn’t fancy any marketing spins that became a necessity to attract sponsors. Michele Alboreto’s win in Las Vegas in 1983 would be Tyrrell’s last victory.

In 1999 the Tyrrell F1 team was bought by British American Tobacco and Craig Pollock to create British American Racing. Ken did not stay with the team for its last year under the Tyrrell name, after disagreeing with over driver issues

Saturday, the 25th August, 2001 in Europe was one of the last hot summer days. In East Horseley, a little village in the English county of Surrey, Robert Kenneth Tyrrell lost a battle he couldn’t win, but still fought it in silence until the end. No doubt, this man was a moral institution until his end.