Tyrrell 012 car-by-car histories

Michele Alboreto in the Tyrrell 012, seen here during tyre testing at Brands Hatch in 1983. Copyright Martin Lee 2017. Used with permission.

The 1983-1985 Tyrrell 012 represented a heroic vanguard opposition to the dominant turbo engines. Tyrrell tried every trick in the book to remain competitive, and eventually had that book thrown at them.

Designed by Maurice Phillippe and Brian Lisles, the Tyrrell 012 was the first Tyrrell to incorporate carbon fibre. The lower part of the monocoque was made from flat panels of honeycomb, with carbon fibre used for the top sections, one moulding forward of the dash bulkhead and another moulding that formed the upper cockpit surround and the top half of the fuel tank area. With its tidy pull-rod suspension inherited from the Tyrrell 011, the 012 was a very attractive, angular, dart-shaped car. Tyrrell were one of the last teams to be using the normally aspirated Cosworth engine, so designed the 012 to be as light as possible, the Cosworth teams’ only remaining advantage over the turbos. The idea was to use water tanks to bring the car up to the minimum weight prior to race, quickly dump the water so they could run under weight, and then top up again at a pit stop. It was pretty clear what they were doing, but the FIA needed to find a way to catch them. In the end, a sample of the water was found to be contaminated by a small but significant amount of fuel. That was enough for the FIA to disqualify the team from the whole season, and remove all the team’s and drivers’ points.

The first 012 appeared in practice for the Austrian Grand Prix in August 1983, and Michele Alboreto raced it for the first time at the next GP, the Dutch, where he finished a promising sixth. A second car was produced for the final race of the season for Danny Sullivan. Martin Brundle and Stefan Bellof took over the 012s for 1984 and produced some great results on the tighter circuits where the turbos’ power advantage was less helpful. Bellof was third at Monaco and Brundle second in Detroit, but both results were lost when the team was disqualified in mid-season. They would return with new 012s for the start of 1985 until the new Tyrrell 014 with Renault turbo engines was ready.

The three new cars built for 1985 were chassis 012/5, 012/6 and 012/7. Two of the earlier cars had been very badly damaged in accidents, 012/3 when Brundle put it on its side at Tabac Corner at Monaco in 1984, and 012/2 at Dallas in a very nasty accident that left Brundle with badly injured ankles. The other two 1983/84 cars, 012/1 and 012/4 were sold to Barron Racing for Formula 3000. Kees van der Grint and Jan Bosch's ambitious Dutch team had been running March and Ralt chassis in European F3 since 1980, and employed Claudio Langes and Roberto Moreno to drive the Tyrrells. The team struggled with aerodynamic set up due to the longer sidepods required in F3000, and then had problems adapting the 012s to the formula's narrower tyres. Moreno decided better opportunities lay elsewhere and when Langes' money ran out, the team was wound up. The cars were sold off to dealer Roger Cowman and both were rebuilt for historic racing. Of the newer cars, 012/5 and 012/6 were sold for historic racing in 1989, while 012/7 was used by Tyrrell as a show car before it followed them.

Such is the popularity of 012s for historic racing, Liaz Jakhara rebuilt 012/3 with a new side and repaired carbon fibre in 1996/97, and 20 years later built another car from all that he could find of 012/2.

These histories last updated on 10 May 2024.