THE UNFAIR ADVANTAGES

TYRRELL’S SIX WHEELED P34

TYRRELL WAS THE PERPETUAL UNDERDOG IN F1, hauled to its loftiest heights in the early Seventies by Jackie Stewart. But following the irascible Scot’s retirement, Uncle Ken was left scrabbling for a new secret weapon, and it arrived in the unlikeliest of forms.

The P34 was the brainchild of Tyrrell’s chief designer Derek Gardner, whose basic premise was to minimise drag by reducing the size of his car’s front wheels. By a truly massive margin.

Gardner reasoned that a much smaller frontal area not only made the P34 more slippery, but also improved downforce with air flow over the car markedly less disrupted. But a tiny 10-inch wheel was not without its problems, the worst of which was a drastic reduction in grip. So, to counteract