Tyrrell on the wrong track

Ken Tyrrell (centre of the picture-above) his drivers Patrick Depailler and Ronnie Peterson and his chief engineer Derek Gardner, all seem pretty confident ahead of the 1977 Formula One season.

The six-wheeler Tyrrell P34 had won the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix with Jody Scheckter but the South African, who did not believe in the concept, left the team for the new Wolf team, and was replaced by Ronnie Peterson. The P34 was redesigned for cleaner aerodynamics, and some redesign was done to accommodate Peterson’s height.

The new P34B was wider and heavier, about 85 kg more, and although Peterson and Depailler extracted the maximum out of the package, it was soon clear that the car was not as good as its predecessor.

Depailler was third in South Africa and Japan and a brilliant second in Canada, and finished in 8th in the standings, while Peterson (picture-below) could only manage one podium, in Belgium. But no victories for Team Tyrrell and the six-wheeler concept was abandoned for 1978.