Tyrrell 024

Tyrrell 024

Mika Salo's Tyrrell 024 at the 1996 San Marino Grand Prix
Constructor:	Tyrrell
Designer:	Harvey Postlethwaite
Predecessor:	Tyrrell 023
Successor:	Tyrrell 025
Technical specifications
Engine:	Yamaha OX11A
Wheelbase:	2940
Weight:	595 kg
Tires:	Goodyear
statistics
Driver:	18. Ukyō Katayama 19. Mika Salo
First start:	1996 Australian Grand Prix
Last start:	1996 Japanese Grand Prix
Starts Victories Poles SR 16 - - -
World Cup points:	5
Podiums:	-
Leadership laps:	-
Status: end of season 1996

The Tyrrell 024 was a racing car of the British motorsport team Tyrrell , which was used in the 1996 Formula 1 season at 16 Grand Prix. It was the team's last vehicle to use a Yamaha engine. Tyrrell scored five points with the 024.

construction

The Tyrrell 024, like the previous models from 1994 ( 022 ) and 1995 ( 023 ), was designed by Harvey Postlethwaite , who returned to Tyrrell at the end of 1993 after an interlude at Ferrari and Sauber and subsequently became a shareholder in the racing team. The 024 was based on these two models in technical terms. It was seen as a mere further development of the 1994 concept and was described as a "simple car" and a "low-risk project".

The aerodynamics of the 024 were developed by Mike Gascoyne . Wind tunnel tests took place in Southampton after Tyrrell had given up the previous alliance with the Italian supplier Fondmetal at the end of 1995 for cost reasons. Outwardly, the 024 differed from its predecessor mainly in the high, pointed front section, which was reminiscent of the successful concept of the Tyrrell 019 ( 1990 ).

Instead of the ineffective Hydralink suspension used the previous year, the 024 used a conventional suspension, each consisting of three springs . The third spring should absorb the pitching movements of the vehicle.

A ten-cylinder engine from Yamaha served as the drive, which, as in previous years, was made available to the team free of charge and exclusively. In fact, it was a design by John Judd , whose Rugby- based company Engine Developments had manufactured Formula 1 engines under the name "Judd" until 1992. From 1993 Judd worked with the Japanese company Yamaha, which financed the engine project and provided technical support in detail. The 1996 OX11A engines had been completely redesigned. Magnesium cylinder heads were a special feature . Judd and Yamaha attached great importance to high speeds and low weight. Allegedly the engine weighed only 99 kg. Later investigations showed that this only meant the weight of the block including cylinders and crankshaft , while all add-on parts such as exhaust and engine management were not taken into account in the weight determination. The power was transmitted via a longitudinally aligned six-speed gearbox.

The Yamaha engine was found to be unreliable; he became the “problem child of the team”. Numerous failures were directly or indirectly due to engine defects. When Yamaha announced at the end of 1996 that it would supply the engines for a fee from 1997, Tyrrell ended the four-year relationship with the Japanese company.

Races

Unreliable problem child of the team: Yamaha OX11A ten-cylinder engine

Mika Salo at the 1996 German Grand Prix

Tyrrell introduced the 024 in London on January 30, 1996, six weeks before the first race of the new season. The team had few sponsors. Nokia , the main sponsor of the previous year, had not renewed the contract with Tyrrell after the team had finished only three times in 1995 and finished ninth in the constructors' championship with five championship points. The team's largest donor in 1996 was the Japanese cigarette manufacturer Japan Tobacco , which also supported Benetton at the same time . He promoted Tyrrell to a significantly lesser extent than the world championship team Benetton; here only the cockpit border was painted in the colors of the cigarette brand Mild Seven . In countries where tobacco advertising was banned, the brand name was replaced by the word "TYRRELL". Other smaller donors were Korean Air and Motorola . The side pods and bonnet were free of sponsor stickers for most of the races.

Drivers were Mika Salo and Ukyō Katayama , Emmanuel Collard was named as test and reserve driver, but he was not used in any race.

Tyrrell surprised the professional world with exceptionally good lap times on test drives before the start of the season; the 024 was about as fast as the cars of the top teams. There were suspicions in the press that the test drives were carried out with low weight and specially prepared engines in order to interest potential sponsors in the team. During the season, these results could not be repeated in races or test drives. For financial reasons, the team did not take any more test drives from summer 1996. The lack of testing had a negative effect on the competitiveness of the car; in particular, the team did not succeed in gaining experience and determining the causes of the numerous failures.

Mika Salo, the team's top driver, crossed the finish line in sixth at the season opener in Australia and fifth in the following race in Brazil . At the Monaco Grand Prix , where only three cars crossed the finish line, Salo retired due to a driving error before the end of the race, but due to the distance covered, he was classified fifth. There were no further results in the points. Katayama never finished in the points. His best result was seventh place in the Hungarian Grand Prix . Starting with the race in Argentina , he was eliminated nine times in a row. At the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring , both Tyrrell were disqualified, Salo because of an underweight car and Katayama because of outside help. Another disqualification followed in Spain : Salo was excluded from the race because he had illegally changed the insert chassis after the introductory lap.

At the end of the year Tyrrell finished eighth in the constructors' championship with five points. It ended the season ahead of Arrows and Minardi .

Results

driver	No.	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	Points	rank
Formula 1 season 1996																		5	8th.
Ukyō Katayama	18th	11	9	DNF	DSQ	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	7th	8th	10	12	DNF
Mika Salo	19th	6th	5	DNF	DSQ	DNF	5 *	DSQ	DNF	10	7th	9	DNF	7th	DNF	11	DNF

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

literature

• Adriano Cimarosti: The Century of Racing , Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01848-9
• David Hodges: A – Z of Grand Prix Cars 1906–2001 , 2001 (Crowood Press), ISBN 1-86126-339-2 (English)
• David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7
• Pierre Ménard: La Grande Encyclopédie de la Formule 1 , 2nd edition, St. Sulpice, 2000, ISBN 2-940125-45-7 (French)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Auto Motor und Sport Extra Formula 1 Season 1996, p. 47.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} David Hodges: AZ of Grand Prix Cars , p. 234.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Pierre Ménard: La Grande Encyclopedie de la Formule 1 , p. 542 f.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} Adriano Cimarosti: The Century of Racing , p. 493 f.
5. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 8/1996, p. 5.
6. ^ Report on the European Grand Prix 1996 on the website www.grandprix.com (accessed on January 27, 2014).
7. ^ Report on the Spanish Grand Prix 1996 on the website www.grandprix.com (accessed on January 27, 2014).