Tyrrell 001


The Tyrrell 001 is a Formula One racing car which was designed for the end of the 1970 and the beginning of the 1971 Formula One season by Tyrrell Racing's Chief Designer, Derek Gardner. The car competed in five Grands Prix, retiring on four occasions and achieving one second-place finish.

Racing history

When Ken Tyrrell, the team's owner, became disenchanted with the poor performance of March chassis during the season, he decided he would design and build his own car. He employed Derek Gardner to design it in secret at his own house. The project, codenamed "SP" which meant "Special Project" cost Tyrrell over £22,000 of his own money. The resulting car made its debut at Oulton Park at a non-championship race but retired; the car was introduced too late in the season to make any difference in the championship; it competed in the final three rounds of the season in North America. Jackie Stewart took pole in the Canadian Grand Prix but retired with axle failure while leading, Stewart led again in the United States Grand Prix when the car suffered an oil leak. The Mexican Grand Prix was delayed due to the large crowd of 200,000 proving difficult to control, almost forcing the cancellation of the race. They were crammed in front of the guard-rails, sat at the trackside and ran across the track itself. Despite impassioned appeals from Stewart and local hero Pedro Rodríguez they still remained troublesome. Stewart had suspension failure caused by running over a dog. Stewart took pole in the South African Grand Prix but finished 2nd to Mario Andretti's Ferrari, Stewart raced the Tyrrell 003 for the remainder of the season. Peter Revson drove the 001's final race in the United States Grand Prix but retired with clutch failure.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(results in bold indicate pole position
† 6 points were scored using the Tyrrell 001; the other 67 points were scored using the Tyrrell 002 and Tyrrell 003