<< Prev Page 2 of 2 Toleman believed more performance could be had from the new chassis by using better tires than the Pirellis used up to that point. The leading teams used Michelins and Toleman managed to broker a deal with the French company, although the new tires could not be delivered right at the start of the season. Byrne extensively modified the TG183's design to suit the new tires and also made drastic changes to the aerodynamics. The resulting TG184 finally looked like a proper Formula 1 racing car. Having impressed the previous seasons, Warwick was signed by the Renault Works team. His place was taken by a very young Ayrton Senna, who was teamed up with Johnny Cecotto.
As the Michelins were not available yet, the TG183B served for a few races. Despite its age, the two year old machine still managed to collect two points for Toleman. The Michelin shod TG184 debuted during the French Grand Prix at Dijon. Here the team discovered that Michelin brought two types of tires; one for the Renault and Ferrari teams and another for the customer teams, so they were still not on par. That would change dramatically at Monaco where rain swooped the track on race day.
Michelin only had one type of rain tire, so Toleman finally was on equal footing. During this race, we saw the first sign of Senna's excellence as he fought himself all the way up to the lead after starting thirteenth. Unfortunately the race was red flagged for being too dangerous on that lap and the result of the previous lap served as the final result of the race. Senna and Toleman saw their momentous first F1 victory slip through their fingers. Alain Prost was declared the winner, but he only received half the points because the race was cut short. Ironically, Prost would have been World Champion at the end of the season, if the race had gone the full distance and he had finished second. Now he lost to Niki Lauda by one point.
With two more podium positions, Senna established himself and the team further in Formula 1. He left the team at the end of the season to join Lotus and the rest, so they say, is history. It wasn't all good news for Toleman though as Johnny Cecotto crashed his TG184 heavily at Brands Hatch, breaking both legs and ending his Formula 1 career. There was more drama at the end of the year as Michelin announced it would withdraw from the sport, leaving the Toleman team without a competitive tire again. In 1985 the favours turned for the team as they received major backing from the Italian Benneton company, who bought the team at the end of the season. Byrne continued to work for the team and eventually designed the 1994 and 1995 championship winning machines before moving to Ferrari together with Michael Schumacher. << Prev Page 2 of 2
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Toleman believed more performance could be had from the new chassis by using better tires than the Pirellis used up to that point. The leading teams used Michelins and Toleman managed to broker a deal with the French company, although the new tires could not be delivered right at the start of the season. Byrne extensively modified the TG183's design to suit the new tires and also made drastic changes to the aerodynamics. The resulting TG184 finally looked like a proper Formula 1 racing car. Having impressed the previous seasons, Warwick was signed by the Renault Works team. His place was taken by a very young Ayrton Senna, who was teamed up with Johnny Cecotto.