Tyrrell 026
T. Takagi in Tyrrell 026 Grand Prix of Spain 1998
Template: Infobox racing car / Maintenance / stop parameters
The Tyrrell 026 was the last Formula 1 race of the British motorsport teams Tyrrell. He was inducted into the Formula 1 1998 season. He was next to the 020C the only Tyrrell, who scored no World Championship points.
Background
Founded in 1960 by Ken Tyrrell Tyrrell Racing Organisation adopted in 1968 in the Formula 1 World Championship in part. After the team had won until 1973, three drivers and one constructors' title, began a sporty decline. While Tyrrell was able to maintain the racing until the 1990s into it, but the team was financially injured and was able to survive mainly because it was for many years supplied free of Yamaha engines. After the end of the relationship, Yamaha had a Tyrrell in 1997 paid customer Ford engines, which significantly impacted the budget.
When the season was expired in 1997, Ken Tyrrell sold his team to the cigarette company British American Tobacco, who planned to build their own racing team, composed by Adrian Reynard, Craig Pollock and Jacques Villeneuve. This BAR -called team should use the start authorization Tyrrell, but apart from that have completely new structures that were operational in 1999. Until then, Tyrrell should be continued. The 1998 season was therefore planned from the outset as a transitional season. Ken Tyrrell left his team before the first race. The line took over Villeneuve's manager Pollock, who led the team with little effort and " just did the bare minimum ."
For this transitional season of Tyrrell 026 was a " very simple Auto", which was assessed by observers as " average quality " and " typical conventionally without any special ".
Technology
The Tyrrell 026 was like its predecessors, a construction of Harvey Postlethwaite. The aerodynamics were developed by Mike Gascoyne. The only special feature of the 026 was the design of the car's nose: At the head of two horizontal baffles were mounted above the front wing, the led the airflow to the sidepods. The car's nose was not designed with a smooth surface on its upper side; she pointed rather in the middle of a depression on. In addition, the car was in some race equipped with the so-called twin or Tyrrell Towers, that is, with additional wings were mounted on tall pillars on the two side boxes. Tyrrell had introduced in 1997 at 025. Once in the subsequent period also Jordan, Prost, Sauber and Ferrari inserting similar constructions, the FIA banned it in the course of the 1998 season for safety reasons.
The Tyrrell 026 was powered by a ten-cylinder engine from the Ford type Zetec-R/97 JD. These were to a design that was created in 1997 exclusively at Stewart Grand Prix. Its maximum output amounted to about 720 hp, about 80 hp less than the power of the strongest engines. As power transmission served a semi-automatic six-speed transmission of Tyrrell.
The tires moved the team from Goodyear, the fuel came from Elf.
Sponsors were the Japanese investment company PIAA, the computer dealer Morse and Brother and the zipper manufacturer YKK. British American Tobacco, the owner of the team, not advertised extensively on the cars. Only a palm-sized sticker on the car's nose pointed to BAT.
Racing applications
First regular driver was Toranosuke Takagi, Tyrrell's last year's test pilot. The second cockpit remained vacant until in February 1998 into it. Ken Tyrrell was pressing hard for Jos Verstappen A, Craig Pollock, who had also considered the use of Tarso Marques and Jean -Christophe Boullion, however decided at short notice for the Brazilian Ricardo Rosset, the Ken Tyrrell considered unsuitable.
Before the season starts Tyrrell took part in the FIA test at the Circuit de Catalunya, Spain. On one of the test days Takagi achieved the fastest time; it was also the fourth best of the whole week of testing.
Over the season, the team acted without success. According to observers, the imminent end of the team limited the enthusiasm of the employees noticeably. There was also speculation to the effect that Craig Pollock had no interest in the sporting success of the team in order not to set a high benchmark for the 1999 to be launched successor team BAR. Some observers felt that the obligation Rosset was partly due to this motivation.
The newcomer Takagi was the more successful of the two Tyrrell driver. He qualified for every race and reached repeatedly starting places in midfield. His best result was the 13th place, on which he stood at the Grand Prix of Australia and Argentina. In the races Takagi fell out of eight times. Four times were driving mistake the cause of this, the other failures were due to engine failure. Takagi's best result was ninth place in the Grand Prix of Great Britain and Italy.
Ricardo Rosset missed during the season five times the qualification. He was the only driver who failed this year at the 107- percent rule. He came four times to the finish, his best finish was eighth place at the Grand Prix of Canada. At the races in Belgium Rosset took ultimately not participate. In an accident at the start, were involved in the numerous cars, both Tyrrell drivers destroyed their cars. The team had only a replacement vehicle in the pits, it was for the restart to Takagi.
Tyrrell finished the 1998 season with no points in last place in the constructors' standings. The Italian Minardi team the same engine used likewise reached no championship points; through better positions in each race but it was considered better than Tyrrell. Tyrrell's successor BAR achieved in 1999 also no world championship points and was the weakest team this season.
Tyrrell's test team conducted during the season essentially preparing for BAR by. These included tests with a modified 026, the experiment of a Supertec engine - was fitted the 1999 engine of the BAR team.