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54-669: Robert Kenneth Tyrrell (3 May 1924 – 25 August 2001) was a British Formula Two racing driver and the founder of the Tyrrell Formula One constructor. Born in East Horsley , Surrey, Tyrrell served in the Royal Air Force during World War II . After the war he became a timber merchant; as a result, he was sometimes known as "Chopper". In 1952, at 28, he began racing a Norton -powered Cooper in 500 cc (31 cu in) Formula 3 . In 1958, he advanced to Formula Two in

108-561: A four-wheel drive Matra) to build what became the Tyrrell 001 . It was quick, if a trifle unreliable, and spawned the much better Tyrrell 003 for 1971. This, in the hands of Stewart and newly hired François Cevert , took eight wins during 1971 and 1972 and gave Stewart the 1971 World Drivers' Championship . For 1972, Gardner tried inboard brakes on the 005 but proved unable to work out their problems. During his early years in F1, "Uncle" Ken, as he

162-450: A 1.0 L engine size, but permitting pure-bred racing engines. Formula Two was largely the domain of Formula One stars on their days off. Engines were mostly by Cosworth (based on Ford blocks) and Honda , though some other units appeared, including various Fiat based units and dedicated racing engines from BMC and BRM . For 1967, the FIA increased the maximum engine capacity to 1600cc. With

216-573: A 1.8L turbocharged Audi engine developed by Mountune Racing , with 425 brake horsepower (317 kW; 431 PS). The cars fell between Formula One and Formula Three in performance, and cost each driver £195,000 for a season. The 2009 championship comprised eight events in Europe between the months of May and November. There were two races per weekend – each 110 km long (around 40 minutes). Two 30-minute practice sessions and two 30-minute qualifying sessions preceded both races. The inaugural championship

270-420: A Cooper- Climax , joining Cecil Libowitz and Alan Brown . He achieved a number of good placings and the occasional win. Realising, however, that he was not going to reach the top and recognising that his talents were better suited to team management, Tyrrell stood down as a driver in 1959 and began to run the works Cooper Formula Junior team, using the woodshed owned by his family business, Tyrrell Brothers, as

324-407: A Formula One World Champion was A graded for five. This system permitted less experienced drivers to work towards the championship and forward their careers, while allowing senior drivers to keep their hand in during the long breaks between Grands Prix of the time. In the early years of the 1600cc formula, Brabham and Lotus were the most numerous constructors, although Ferrari intermittently entered

378-680: A Formula Two car, while still racing front-engined Grand Prix cars. The dominant engine of this formula was the Coventry Climax FPF four-cylinder, with the rare Borgward sixteen-valve unit enjoying some success. A slightly enlarged version of the F2 Cooper won the first two Formula One Grands Prix in 1958, marking the beginning of the rear-engined era in Formula One. The 1.5 L formula was short-lived, with Formula Junior effectively replacing first Formula Three and then Formula Two until 1963—but

432-531: A feeder series for Formula One, the competing GP2 and Formula Renault 3.5 series had significantly more powerful cars, and no Formula Two driver had managed to progress to a Formula One team until Jolyon Palmer in 2016 with Renault Sport F1 Team . In 2015, the FIA announced plans to overhaul the Super Licence system, streamlining the qualification criteria and weighting the various feeder series to allow drivers

486-550: A more linear progress system. Included with this were plans for a revival of the Formula Two category, which was given priority over all other categories of competition. Further details were published by the World Motorsport Council, revealing plans to model the new Formula Two championship along the same lines as the revived European Formula 3 Championship and the newly introduced Formula 4 category. The series will be

540-661: A part of the FIA Global Pathway . Rather than reviving the series by creating a new one where none had previously existed, the FIA chose to rebrand the GP2 Series as the FIA Formula 2 Championship in early 2017. Since then, drivers to have graduated to F1 include Charles Leclerc , George Russell and Oscar Piastri . All eleven teams run the Dallara F2 2024 chassis, powered by a Mecachrome engine. The Central Automotoclub of

594-519: A result, the cars were smaller, lighter, and cheaper than those used in Formula One. This encouraged new marques such as Cooper to move up to Formula Two, before competing against large manufacturers like Alfa Romeo and Maserati . In fact, Formula One in its early years attracted so few entrants that in 1952 and 1953 all World Championship Grand Prix races, except the unique Indianapolis 500 , were run in Formula Two (there were, however, non-championship Formula One events). F2 went into decline with

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648-477: A third 007 in 1975. Still, Tyrrell found the time to introduce new concepts for F1. In 1976, the Tyrrell team created the six-wheeled P34 , with four front wheels. The Gardner-designed single-seater achieved a race victory but it was abandoned after Goodyear refused to develop the small tyres needed exclusively for the car as it would detract from the efforts in the ongoing tyre war with other tyre manufacturers. In

702-485: A works team, as did BMW (with Lola and Dornier -built chassis). A number of smaller constructors such as Matra and Tecno were successful. Chevron also provided cars. The French firm Matra won the three first editions of the European championship, with Tecno winning the fourth. In 1972, the formula was changed to increase power by permitting 2.0 L production-based engines—Cosworth BDs and BMW four-cylinder engines dominated

756-510: A workshop. By 1961 he was also managing the Mini Coopers , as well as deputising for an injured John Cooper in Formula One . Tyrrell was responsible for discovering Jackie Stewart , whom he contracted to race for his Formula Junior team, after a test in 1964. Along with numerous lesser lights, he also approved Jody Scheckter and motorcycle racing ace John Surtees . Recognizing the value of

810-626: Is a Formula One racing car , designed by Tyrrell 's Chief Designer, Derek Gardner . It was used in the 1974 , 1975 , 1976 and 1977 Formula One seasons. Ken Tyrrell , owner of Tyrrell Racing needed two new drivers for 1974 because Jackie Stewart retired from driving at the end of 1973 and François Cevert was killed at the 1973 season finale in the United States . The team had originally planned to have Cevert and Jody Scheckter as their driver line up for 1974. Following Cevert's death, Tyrrell signed Patrick Depailler as replacement. In

864-615: The Brabham marque won three titles, with the drivers going to Jack Brabham (twice), Jim Clark and Jochen Rindt . Races were held at some of the most legendary venues in France, Pau , Clermont-Ferrand and Reims , to name just three. However once the European Championship had successfully completed this first season, the French version was abandoned. Tyrrell 007 The Tyrrell 007

918-625: The FIA as a smaller and cheaper complement to the Grand Prix cars of the era to be effective from 1 January 1948 . Among the races held in this first year of Formula Two was the 1948 Stockholm Grand Prix . In 1948 Scuderia Ferrari built the Ferrari 166 F2 , which made its racing debut at the Florence Grand Prix on September 26, 1948. The rules limited engines to two-litre naturally aspirated or 500 cc supercharged (an option very rarely used). As

972-571: The FIA Formula Two Championship was a one make series, with the competitors all using the same chassis and engine. Jonathan Palmer 's MotorSport Vision company managed the championship and also operated and maintained the cars on behalf of the drivers. There were no teams in the championship – unlike other professional motorsport series each driver instead worked with engineers supplied by MotorSport Vision. The cars were designed by Williams Grand Prix Engineering , and were powered by

1026-726: The Ferrari engine returned briefly with minimal success. The Hart 420R (ultimately derived from the Cosworth BDA) was briefly successful in Marches and Team Surtees won the European F2 Championship in 1972 with Hart engines, driver Mike Hailwood, but most notably in the works Toleman team's cars. Dominant chassis of this era were generally from March and Ralt , with Chevron, the French Elf and Martinis and German Maurers being briefly successful. Honda returned to Formula Two in

1080-655: The Matra MS10 was the result. Stewart helped the new team to place second in the Constructors' Championship for 1968 . The success led to Matra's Gérard Ducarouge and Bernard Boyer creating the DFV-powered Matra MS80 for 1969 , driven by Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Stewart, who won his first World Drivers Championship. Matra insisted on focusing on their V12, leading Tyrrell to secretly employ Derek Gardner , then at Ferguson (whom he had encountered in trials with

1134-499: The "return to power" of Formula One the gap between Formula One and Formula Two was felt to be too wide, and the introduction of new 1600cc production-based engine regulations for Formula Two restored the category to its intended role as a feeder series for Formula One. The FIA also introduced the European Formula Two Championship in 1967. Ickx, driving a Matra MS5, won the inaugural championship by 11 points from

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1188-678: The 007 scored 48 points, earning them third place in the Constructors' Championship standings. The Tyrrell team scored twenty five World Championship points, earning them fifth place in the Constructors' Championship standings. The Tyrrell team scored 71 World Championship points, 13 points were scored by the 007 and the Tyrrell P34 scored 58 points, earning them third place in the Constructors' Championship standings. ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) ^1 4 points in 1974 scored using

1242-596: The 1961 1.5 L Formula One was effectively a continuation of this Formula Two. For 1960, in preparation for the new Formula One, two international championships were held, the Formula Two Constructors' Championship and the Formula Two Drivers' Championship . The Drivers' Championship was won by Jack Brabham , while the Manufacturers' Championship ended in a tie between Porsche and Cooper. Formula Junior

1296-525: The 2.0 litre engine era, HWM , Connaught and Cooper were among the constructors who built cars for the class, usually powered by Bristol . When F2 was brought back in 1.5 litre form in 1956, Cooper and Lotus were the first to build cars to the new specification, taking advantage of the availability of Coventry Climax engines. Championships were held from 1956 to 1960, 1964 to 1967 and again in 1972. Stirling Moss , Jack Brabham , Jim Clark and Niki Lauda won titles. The British Formula 3000 series

1350-538: The Australian, Frank Gardner . The most popular 1600cc engine was the Cosworth FVA, the sixteen-valve head on a four-cylinder Cortina block that was effectively the "proof of concept" for the legendary DFV. The 1967 FVA gave 220 bhp (160 kW; 220 PS) at 9000 rpm. Other units also appeared, including a four-cylinder BMW and a V6 Dino Ferrari . Nevertheless, many Formula One drivers continued to drive

1404-675: The F2 category made its debut in Soviet autosport championships. Two years later, updated F2 regulations were introduced. It wasn't until 1971 that F2 cars started to regularly appear on Soviet tracks, and F2 series were included in Soviet motorsport championships until 1977. Prior to the Formula Nippon, during the 1.6 L 1967–1971 era, a Formula 2 series championship existed in Japan. Japanese teams were building their own cars and engines. As for races ran in Europe,

1458-466: The F5000-based revival of Can-Am . Australia has had its own Australian Formula 2 category since 1964. From 1978 the formula has specified that cars be powered by a production-based single-cam engine with a capacity between 1100 cc and 1600 cc. Induction must be by means of carburettor/s, the engine must be naturally aspirated and an 8500 rpm rev limit is applied. An Australian Formula 2 Championship

1512-679: The USSR (CAMK) joined the FIA in October 1956, aiming to develop Soviet motorsport after seeing international races like the British F1 GP. In 1959, CAMK introduced a new classification system for racing cars in the USSR. However, F2 cars were not part of the 1960 Soviet motorsport championship because there were no suitable stock engines available, and the Soviet Union did not produce specialized racing engines at that time. Consequently, it wasn't until 1962 that

1566-403: The arrival of the 2.5 L F1 in 1954 (with small-capacity sports car racing becoming particularly popular), but a new Formula Two was introduced for 1957, for 1.5 L cars. This became dominated by rear-engined Coopers drawing on their Formula 3 and "Bobtail" sports car, with Porsches based on their RSK sports cars enjoying some success. Ferrari originally developed their "Sharknose" Dino 156 as

1620-524: The early 1980s Tyrrell's fortunes declined to the point where he had to run his team without sponsorship. Tyrrell still retained his eye for talent, bringing Michele Alboreto , Stefan Bellof and Martin Brundle to F1, but was not able to retain them. Without the proper funding, Tyrrell was the only entrant with the Cosworth DFV at a time when all other teams had switched to turbocharged engines. Alboreto scored

1674-464: The early 1980s with a powerful V6, but this was very much a works engine and the cost of competing with the works Ralt-Honda team became prohibitive. As a result, grids diminished in size and declining interest in the series threatened it with extinction. After the 1984 season, the FIA replaced Formula Two with the newly created Formula 3000 category, which was designed to cut the cost of competition. The initial regulations joined F2-style chassis with

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1728-404: The early years, with BMW-powered Marches gradually establishing dominance. For 1976, engines developed purely for racing were permitted to compete, with Renault developing a particularly potent V6; allied to a sponsorship scheme from oil company Elf the formula was briefly dominated by French teams and drivers; BMW started to back a works March team and raised the stakes in the late-Seventies. Even

1782-689: The end of the first lap Fittipaldi passed Scheckter to take second place. At the Swedish Grand Prix , Scheckter won the race and Depailler finished second. At the Dutch Grand Prix Scheckter finished fifth and Depailler sixth. At the French Grand Prix , Scheckter took fourth and Depailler finished eighth in the 006. In the British Grand Prix Scheckter took the lead and won the race, engine failure took Depailler out of

1836-399: The engine's last win in 1983, but in 1984 the team was excluded from the championship after being found to have run underweight cars before adding ballast during pit stops. Tyrrell denied this and felt his team was being singled out for refusing to run more expensive turbos. In the early 1990s Tyrrell relinquished much of the company's control to his sons and to Harvey Postlethwaite , who was

1890-505: The first three races of 1974, ( Argentina , Brazil and South Africa ), Tyrrell used the earlier 005 and 006 chassis. The Tyrrell 007 made its debut at the Spanish Grand Prix . Scheckter drove the 007 and finished fifth, Depailler raced the 006 and the 005 was no longer used. Two 007s raced at Belgium . At the start of the race, Clay Regazzoni 's Ferrari took the lead ahead of Scheckter and Emerson Fittipaldi 's McLaren . At

1944-512: The first to introduce the high-nose concept in the 1990 Tyrrell. Jean Alesi scored two-second places in the car and the team led a lap for the last time. Their final podium finish was in 1994 with Mark Blundell and their final points at the 1997 Monaco Grand Prix, with 5th position from Mika Salo . In 1997 the Tyrrell F1 team was bought by British American Tobacco and Craig Pollock to create British American Racing . Tyrrell did not stay with

1998-503: The less-twitchy 007 . It was good enough for Scheckter to place third in the World Championship and for Depailler to be ninth in his rookie season and for the team to continue to campaign the car during 1975. In the following years, the Tyrrell team slipped down the rankings to mid-field, despite having employed natural talents such as Scheckter, Depailler and Ronnie Peterson , as well as lesser lights like Jean-Pierre Jabouille , in

2052-430: The mid-1970s. The Japanese Formula 2 championship ran between 1978 and 1986, before Japan too adopted a set of regulations very similar to F3000 rules, with the series being known as Japanese Formula 3000 from 1987. The series is now known as Super Formula , after using the name Formula Nippon from 1996 to 2012. Japan also ran a series for full-bodied versions of F2 cars called Fuji Grand Champion Series —somewhat akin to

2106-416: The naturally aspirated 3000 cc Cosworth DFV V8 engines, that were by then obsolete in the all- turbocharged Formula One. The premier series was the FIA Formula 3000 International Championship , though a number of other championships were also run to Formula 3000 regulations. Following an absence of 25 years, a Formula Two championship was re-established by the FIA in 2009. Unlike the previous incarnation,

2160-444: The new Cosworth DFV , after a Lotus win at Zandvoort in its debut in 1967, with financial help from Elf , Dunlop and Ford , Tyrrell achieved his dream of moving to Formula 1 in 1968 , as team principal for Matra International , a joint-venture established between Tyrrell's own team and the French auto manufacturer Matra . He persuaded Matra that a DFV was good insurance against the possible failure of Matra 's V12 and thus

2214-413: The old 4.5 L naturally aspirated cars, but as the 3.0 L supercharged cars were more than a match for these (and the pre-War German and Italian cars were no longer available), the old 1.5 L voiturette formula replaced 3.0 L supercharged cars in an attempt to equalise performance. This left no category below Formula A/Formula One, so Formula Two (originally known as Formula B) was first formally codified by

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2268-499: The pinnacle of open-wheeled auto racing, the high-performance nature of the cars and the expense involved in the series has always meant a need for a path to reach this peak. For much of the history of Formula One, Formula Two has represented the penultimate step on the motorsport ladder. Prior to the Second World War, there usually existed a division of racing for cars smaller and less powerful than Grand Prix racers. This category

2322-526: The race. In Germany , Depailler through an accident caused by broken suspension. At the Austrian Grand Prix Depailler retired after an accident. Peterson crossed the line less than a second ahead of Fittipaldi after 12 laps of battling in Italy . Scheckter finished third and Depailler finished eleventh. The Tyrrell team scored 52 World Championship points; four points were scored by the 005 and

2376-485: The series was simply called Formula 2. Amongst the makes, the best known was the Mitsubishi Colt. Cars raced with parallel FIA rules, using 1600 cc displacement engines, from 1967 to 1970. Japan ran a series known as "Japanese Formula 2000 championship" to rules similar to two-litre F2 between 1973 and 1977. Production-based single-cam engines were permitted to run at 2.4 L, but they soon came into line with FIA rules in

2430-657: The slower Formula One cars. Ickx quickly forced his way back into a points position, only to be forced to retire with broken suspension. Jim Clark , regarded as one of the greatest race drivers of all time, was killed in a Formula Two race early in 1968, at the Hockenheimring . A year later Gerhard Mitter was killed at the Nürburgring while practising for the 1969 German Grand Prix in a Formula Two car. The "invasion" of Formula One drivers in Formula Two ranks (a situation similar to that of buschwhacking in modern-day NASCAR )

2484-525: The smaller and lighter cars on non-championship weekends, and some Grand Prix grids (notably in Germany, where the long circuit at the Nürburgring could cope with large entries) would be a mix of Formula One and Formula Two cars. Jacky Ickx made his Grand Prix debut at the Nürburgring in a Formula Two car in 1966. The following year Ickx qualified with the third fastest time overall but was forced to start behind

2538-468: The team for its last year under the Tyrrell name (1998), after Pollock insisted on hiring Ricardo Rosset , whom Tyrrell regarded as less capable than the also-available Jos Verstappen . Tyrrell also approached Norberto Fontana and had even drafted a contract, but this was also vetoed by British American Racing. On 25 August 2001 Ken Tyrrell died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 77. Formula Two While Formula One has generally been regarded as

2592-535: Was briefly known as "Formula Two" in an attempt to make its status more apparent to casual spectators. However, the series was in terminal decline and the change of name did not help. At one point the use of 4.2 L TVR engines cars in F3000 chassis was discussed as a possible British F2, but this did not materialise. Prior to the formation of the European Championship, France held its own, very popular championship between 1964 and 1967. Despite only running for four seasons,

2646-506: Was introduced in 1959, an attempt to be all things to all people (both a training formula replacing Formula Three and a high-level international category below Formula One replacing Formula Two), and it was soon realised that there was a need to split it into two new formulae; Formula Two and Formula Three were reintroduced for the 1964 season, with Formula Three requiring one-litre production-based engines, which were similar to Formula Junior with very restricted tuning, and Formula Two also having

2700-510: Was often known, reached the peak of his career. The 006 , with its tall airbox, appeared in 1973 and was better than the 005. However, Tyrrell was profoundly affected by the death of Cevert in practice for the 1973 US Grand Prix , leading to Stewart announcing his retirement, the World Championship already his. With the death of Cevert and the departure of Stewart, Tyrrell in 1974 hired Scheckter and Patrick Depailler and Gardner designed

2754-411: Was permitted because of the unique grading system used. Any driver with an A grading was not permitted to score championship points. A driver gained an A rating via various means which changed somewhat over the years, such as finishing in the points in two Grand Prix events or the top three in two World Sports Car events. The annual Formula Two champion was also granted an A rating for one year, and

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2808-545: Was sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport in the years from 1964 to 1965, from 1969 to 1977 and from 1979 to 1988. Mexico ran its own Formula Two series (previously known as Formula K) for 12 years in the early 1990s. The cars were similar to Formula Atlantic vehicles, fitted with 2.2 L Chrysler engines. Formula Two racing was popular in the United Kingdom in the late 1940s and early 1950s. During

2862-485: Was usually called voiturette ("small car") racing and provided a means for amateur or less experienced drivers and smaller marques to prove themselves. By the outbreak of war, the rules for voiturette racing permitted 1.5 L supercharged engines; Grand Prix cars were permitted 3.0 L supercharged or 4.5 L naturally aspirated . In 1946, the 3.0 L supercharged rules were abandoned and Formulae A and B (later 1 and 2) introduced, effective from 1 January 1947. Formula A permitted

2916-405: Was won by Andy Soucek although was marred by the death of Henry Surtees during the fourth round at Brands Hatch. The series was discontinued by the FIA and MSV after the 2012 season. The championship had struggled to attract enough drivers in the final year, with the single team concept proving to be unpopular compared to championships run on a more conventional basis. Despite being marketed as

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