Pironi joins Tyrrell
Didier Pironi rose swiftly to the summits of motorsport. He became Formula France champion in 1974, taking the Formula Renault championship in 1976 and winning the prestigious Monaco Formula 3 Grand Prix in 1977.
Pironi then signed for Team Tyrrell for the 1978 F1 season- picture above with Ken Tyrrell – and made his debut at the Argentine Grand Prix in January 1978. Ken Tyrrell’s team which, despite being very British indeed, had a strong working relationship with French oil giant ELF, dating back to the late 1960s.
It was a great year for the promising Pironi, who was also part of the massive Renault squad, tasked with winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Partnering veteran Jean-Pierre Jaussaud in an Alpine-Renault A442B, he won the race by four laps over arch-rival Porsche.
In F1, the Tyrrell 008-Cosworth, designed by Maurice Philippe, was a competitive package. Team mate Patrick Depailler, who had joined the Tyrrell team in 1974, scored 5 podiums, including a fantastic first win at Monaco, and finished fifth in the standings.
Didier Pironi, learned the ropes of Formula One during this 1978 season; finished sixth in Brazil, South Africa and Belgium (picture below) and fifth in Monaco and Germany. A solid, but not hyper-impressive, beginning in F1. He was nevertheless retained by Tyrrell for the 1979, while Depailler left for Ligier.
