<< Prev Page 2 of 2 For 1984 the 012 was further developed and two new drivers hired. Alboreto and Sullivan's places were taken by the young and talented Martin Brundle and Stefan Bellof. The Tyrrell featured a water injection system, which helped cool the injected fuel/air mixture, slightly boosting pressure. More importantly as the water was injected, the weight of the car dropped and being a coolant the water tank could be filled after the race before the car was weighed. There was quite a bit of room to play with as the 012 was a whole 40 kg lighter than the minimum weight which was set at 540 kg. It was one of several tricks to run keep with the more complex and heavier Turbocharged engined competition, but it would come back to bite Tyrrell in an unprecedented fashion. Another one of these tricks was to use a similar system to cool the brakes with water.
The work in the winter immediately paid off as Brundle secured a fifth place finish during the season opener in Brazil. Both he and Bellof took very well to the finely balanced Tyrrell. The German added another point to Tyrrell's tally in Belgium by finished sixth and a lap behind race winner Alboreto, who now piloted a Turbocharged Ferrari. Bellof continued to impress and scored another fifth and a third in the rain soaked Monaco Grand Prix where he put in an arguably even more memorable drive than Ayrton Senna, who finished second. The 'circus' moved to Detroit next, where Alboreto had scored a victory for Tyrrell a year earlier. Brundle came less than a second short of repeating that feat.
Tyrrell's good results had attracted the attention of the scrutineers, who took a very close look at the car after the Brundle's second at Detroit. They discovered a hydrocarbon content and lead balls in the water-injection tank. Refueling was illegal, but the team could top the water tank during a pit stop. The FIA believed that what Tyrrell's mechanics added during the pit stops was not solely water. The lead balls were added to raise the car's weight to meet the 540 kg limit and the hydrocarbon content was in fact fuel. Ken Tyrrell put up a big fight, but eventually his team was stripped of all the points scored and banned from competing in any further Grand Prix in 1984. The second part of the sentence was eventually dropped and the Tyrrells were allowed to run, but were not eligible to score any points.
Still unable to get his hands on a proper engine, Tyrrell persevered with the 012 in 1985. The impressive, but scratched results of the 1984 season could not be matched and the team gradually slipped to the very bottom of the tables. They hit rock bottom during the Austrian Grand Prix where Brundle failed to qualify the 012. He had been a staggering 12 seconds off the pace of the McLarens. A few races earlier Bellof had debuted the Tyrrell 014, which was powered by the Renault Turbo engine. Brundle's 014 was ready for the next race and as a result the practice sessions of the 1985 Austrian Grand Prix had marked the end of an era. After 19 seasons and 155 victories, the Cosworth V8 engine was finally retired from Formula 1. Two of the seven 012s were used in 1985 during the opening season of the new F3000 championship. << Prev Page 2 of 2
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For 1984 the 012 was further developed and two new drivers hired. Alboreto and Sullivan's places were taken by the young and talented Martin Brundle and Stefan Bellof. The Tyrrell featured a water injection system, which helped cool the injected fuel/air mixture, slightly boosting pressure. More importantly as the water was injected, the weight of the car dropped and being a coolant the water tank could be filled after the race before the car was weighed. There was quite a bit of room to play with as the 012 was a whole 40 kg lighter than the minimum weight which was set at 540 kg. It was one of several tricks to run keep with the more complex and heavier Turbocharged engined competition, but it would come back to bite Tyrrell in an unprecedented fashion. Another one of these tricks was to use a similar system to cool the brakes with water.