Tyrrell 019
Encyclopedia
The Tyrrell 019 was a Formula One
racing car, designed by a team led by Harvey Postlethwaite
, and built by Tyrrell
. It was an evolution of Postlethwaite's first design for Tyrrell, the Tyrrell 018
.
The 019 marked a significant point in the evolution of Formula One design in having an elevated nose cone. This was the first time that such an idea had been tried in Formula One racing, and it set the template for aerodynamic design ever since. The car was introduced two races into the 1990 Formula One season
, scoring a point on its debut in the hands of Jean Alesi
. This type of nose cone was gradually adopted by other teams and became the de rigueur design by 1996 in Formula One. The car was powered by the Ford DFR V8 engine
- a descendant of the legendary but venerable Cosworth DFV
.
, Harvey Postlethwaite did not rest on his laurels. Postlethwaite was an experienced F1 engineer, having previously built race-winning cars for Hesketh, Wolf
and Ferrari
, and so was well-placed to spot the shortcomings of his own design. Taking the 018 as their base, Postlethwaite and Tyrrell Chief Designer Jean-Claude Migeot decided to try to improve the aerodynamic efficiency of the chassis. One area in particular attracted their attention: the underbody airflow. While true ground effect
designs had been outlawed during the 1980s, the contemporary practice of coupling a flat, stepped chassis undertray with a large rear diffuser
meant that many cars still produced a significant proportion of their downforce
through the generation of a low-pressure air mass underneath the car. What Postlethwaite and Migeot realised was that the efficiency of this low-pressure generating system was being seriously compromised by the low nose position at the front end of the car. These low nose cones effectively diverted air sideways and upwards around the cars' upper bodywork, and reduced the volume of air passing underneath the car. However, the generation of low pressures relies on increasing the speed of the air passing underneath the car, in relation to that passing over and around it. In simple terms, the more air that can be drawn underneath a car, the faster that air will have to be moving, and the faster the air is moving, the lower the pressure. By raising the nose cone of the car, Postlethwaite and his team increased the volume of air that was able to pass underneath the car. Conversely, the efficiency of the front wing aerofoils are increased the closer they are to the ground. These conflicting requirements led to the design of the 019's distinctive inverted-V, anhedral
front profile.
, and then both qualified and finished in second place in Monaco
, the remainder of the season resulted in only two points finishes. Nevertheless, as other teams experimented with the principle it rapidly became the norm for Formula One cars to sport a high nose cone. The last truly successful low nose design was the Williams FW16
, built only four years after the Tyrrell's unveiling. After this car, all Formula One Championship winning chassis have followed Tyrrell's lead.
The Tyrrell 019 was replaced at the end of the 1990 season by the Tyrrell 020
, a further evolution of Postlethwaite's high nose principle.
Seven points scored with the Tyrrell 018
.
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
racing car, designed by a team led by Harvey Postlethwaite
Harvey Postlethwaite
Harvey Postlethwaite was a British engineer and Technical Director of several Formula One teams during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He died of a heart attack in Spain while supervising the testing of the abortive Honda F1 project...
, and built by Tyrrell
Tyrrell Racing
The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the early 1970s, when it won three drivers' championships and one...
. It was an evolution of Postlethwaite's first design for Tyrrell, the Tyrrell 018
Tyrrell 018
The Tyrrell 018 was a Formula One racing car designed by Harvey Postlethwaite and Jean-Claude Migeot. It was built and raced by Tyrrell Racing. It used a customer Ford DFR engine....
.
The 019 marked a significant point in the evolution of Formula One design in having an elevated nose cone. This was the first time that such an idea had been tried in Formula One racing, and it set the template for aerodynamic design ever since. The car was introduced two races into the 1990 Formula One season
1990 Formula One season
The 1990 Formula One season was the 41st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1990 FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 11, 1990 and ended on November 4 after sixteen races...
, scoring a point on its debut in the hands of Jean Alesi
Jean Alesi
Jean Alesi is a French racing driver of Italian origin. His Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell, Benetton, Sauber, Prost, Jordan and most notably Ferrari where he proved very popular among the tifosi...
. This type of nose cone was gradually adopted by other teams and became the de rigueur design by 1996 in Formula One. The car was powered by the Ford DFR V8 engine
V8 engine
A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....
- a descendant of the legendary but venerable Cosworth DFV
Cosworth DFV
The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine...
.
Design
Although the 018 had a modestly successful season in 19891989 Formula One season
The 1989 Formula One season was the 40th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1989 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 26, 1989 and ended on November 5 after sixteen races...
, Harvey Postlethwaite did not rest on his laurels. Postlethwaite was an experienced F1 engineer, having previously built race-winning cars for Hesketh, Wolf
Walter Wolf Racing
Walter Wolf Racing was a Formula One constructor from 1977 to 1980, notable for winning the very first race the team entered.-1975-77:In 1975, the Slovenian-Austrian-Canadian businessman Walter Wolf had started to appear at many of the F1 races during the season. A year later, he bought 60% of...
and Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
, and so was well-placed to spot the shortcomings of his own design. Taking the 018 as their base, Postlethwaite and Tyrrell Chief Designer Jean-Claude Migeot decided to try to improve the aerodynamic efficiency of the chassis. One area in particular attracted their attention: the underbody airflow. While true ground effect
Ground effect in cars
Ground effect is term applied to a series of aerodynamic effects used in car design, which has been exploited to create downforce, particularly in racing cars. This has been the successor to the earlier dominant aerodynamic theory of streamlining...
designs had been outlawed during the 1980s, the contemporary practice of coupling a flat, stepped chassis undertray with a large rear diffuser
Diffuser (automotive)
A diffuser, in an automotive context, is a shaped section of the car underbody which improves the car's aerodynamic properties by enhancing the transition between the high-velocity airflow underneath the car and the much slower freestream airflow of the ambient atmosphere...
meant that many cars still produced a significant proportion of their downforce
Downforce
Downforce is a downwards thrust created by the aerodynamic characteristics of a car. The purpose of downforce is to allow a car to travel faster through a corner by increasing the vertical force on the tires, thus creating more grip....
through the generation of a low-pressure air mass underneath the car. What Postlethwaite and Migeot realised was that the efficiency of this low-pressure generating system was being seriously compromised by the low nose position at the front end of the car. These low nose cones effectively diverted air sideways and upwards around the cars' upper bodywork, and reduced the volume of air passing underneath the car. However, the generation of low pressures relies on increasing the speed of the air passing underneath the car, in relation to that passing over and around it. In simple terms, the more air that can be drawn underneath a car, the faster that air will have to be moving, and the faster the air is moving, the lower the pressure. By raising the nose cone of the car, Postlethwaite and his team increased the volume of air that was able to pass underneath the car. Conversely, the efficiency of the front wing aerofoils are increased the closer they are to the ground. These conflicting requirements led to the design of the 019's distinctive inverted-V, anhedral
Anhedral
* Anhedral angle, the downward angle from horizontal of the wings or tailplane of a fixed-wing aircraft* Anhedral , a rock texture without crystal faces or cross-section shape in thin section...
front profile.
Competition history
In practice the car did not make the same impact in terms of results as it has in technological advancement. Although Alesi qualified a strong seventh and took a point for a sixth place finish at its first race in San Marino1990 San Marino Grand Prix
The 1990 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 13 May 1990 at Imola. It was the third round of the 1990 Formula One season. It was the tenth San Marino Grand Prix and it was the eleventh time Imola hosted a Formula One Grand Prix...
, and then both qualified and finished in second place in Monaco
1990 Monaco Grand Prix
The 1990 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 27 May 1990 at Monaco. It was the fourth round of the 1990 Formula One season and the 48th Monaco Grand Prix...
, the remainder of the season resulted in only two points finishes. Nevertheless, as other teams experimented with the principle it rapidly became the norm for Formula One cars to sport a high nose cone. The last truly successful low nose design was the Williams FW16
Williams FW16
The Williams FW16 was a Formula One car used by the Williams team for the 1994 Formula One season. It was designed by Adrian Newey with the major regulation changes that the FIA had introduced in the off-season, banning the electronic devices that had been used by the front running cars during the...
, built only four years after the Tyrrell's unveiling. After this car, all Formula One Championship winning chassis have followed Tyrrell's lead.
The Tyrrell 019 was replaced at the end of the 1990 season by the Tyrrell 020
Tyrrell 020
The Tyrrell 020 was a Formula One racing car designed by Harvey Postlethwaite and George Ryton for Tyrrell Racing and raced during the 1991 Formula One season. The car was powered by the Honda V10 engine previously raced by McLaren in . The 020 was driven by Satoru Nakajima who brought the Honda...
, a further evolution of Postlethwaite's high nose principle.
Complete Formula One World Championship results
| Year | Entrant | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pts. | WCC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyrrell Racing Organisation Tyrrell Racing The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the early 1970s, when it won three drivers' championships and one... |
Ford DFR V8 V8 engine A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft.... |
USA 1990 United States Grand Prix The 1990 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on March 11, 1990 in Phoenix, Arizona. It was the opening round of the 1990 Formula One season. It was the 32nd United States Grand Prix since the American Grand Prize was first held in 1908, and the 25th since the first United States... |
BRA 1990 Brazilian Grand Prix The 1990 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on March 25, 1990 at Interlagos. It was the 19th Brazilian Grand Prix and the ninth to be held at Interlagos. The São Paulo circuit had not held the Grand Prix since 1980 and the circuit was extensively renovated with the circuit itself... |
SMR 1990 San Marino Grand Prix The 1990 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 13 May 1990 at Imola. It was the third round of the 1990 Formula One season. It was the tenth San Marino Grand Prix and it was the eleventh time Imola hosted a Formula One Grand Prix... |
MON 1990 Monaco Grand Prix The 1990 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 27 May 1990 at Monaco. It was the fourth round of the 1990 Formula One season and the 48th Monaco Grand Prix... |
CAN 1990 Canadian Grand Prix The 1990 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 10 June 1990 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. It was the 28th Canadian Grand Prix and the 12th to be held at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve... |
MEX 1990 Mexican Grand Prix The 1990 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on June 24, 1990. It was sixth race of the 1990 Formula One season, the 14th Mexican Grand Prix and the fifth since the Mexico City circuit returned to the Formula One calendar in 1986... |
FRA 1990 French Grand Prix The 1990 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on July 8, 1990. It was the seventh race of the 1990 Formula One season. It was the 68th French Grand Prix and the 14th and last to be held at Paul Ricard... |
GBR 1990 British Grand Prix The 1990 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on July 15, 1990. It was the eighth round of the 1990 Formula One season. It was the 45th British Grand Prix and the 26th to be held at Silverstone... |
GER 1990 German Grand Prix The 1990 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Hockenheimring on July 29, 1990. It was the ninth round of the 1990 Formula One season. The race was the 52nd German Grand Prix and the 14th to be held at the Hockenheimring. It was the 39th and last Formula One Grand Prix to be held... |
HUN 1990 Hungarian Grand Prix The 1990 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Hungaroring on August 12, 1990. It was the tenth round of the 1990 Formula One season. The race was the sixth Hungarian Grand Prix and the fifth to be held at the Hungaroring... |
BEL 1990 Belgian Grand Prix The 1990 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Spa-Francorchamps on August 26, 1990. It was the eleventh round of the 1990 Formula One season. The race was the 48th Belgian Grand Prix. It was the 36th to be held at Spa-Francorchamps and the seventh since the circuit was extensively... |
ITA 1990 Italian Grand Prix The 1990 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 9 September 1990 at Monza. It was the twelfth race of the 1990 Formula One season... |
POR 1990 Portuguese Grand Prix The 1990 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 23 September 1990 at Autódromo do Estoril. It was the thirteenth round of the 1990 Formula One season. The race was the 19th Portuguese Grand Prix and the seventh to be held at Estoril. It was held over 61 laps, of a scheduled 71... |
ESP 1990 Spanish Grand Prix The 1990 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 30 September, 1990 at Jerez. It was the 31st Spanish Grand Prix and the fifth and last time the Grand Prix would be held at the Jerez circuit in Valencia before moving to a new larger facility near Barcelona in Catalonia, though it... |
JPN 1990 Japanese Grand Prix The 1990 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 21 October 1990 at Suzuka. It was the fifteenth and penultimate round of the 1990 Formula One season. It was the 17th Japanese Grand Prix and the fourth to be held at Suzuka... |
AUS 1990 Australian Grand Prix The 1990 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 4 November 1990 at Adelaide. This was the 500th race to contribute to the World Drivers' Championship. The race was the 55th Australian Grand Prix and the sixth to be held on the Adelaide street circuit... |
16 | 5th | |||
| Satoru Nakajima Satoru Nakajima Satoru Nakajima is a former racing driver from Japan.-Career:Nakajima was born into a farming family living just outside Okazaki, Japan. He began driving cars in his early teens in the family's garden with his older brother giving him tips, careful that they were not caught by their father... |
Ret | Ret | 11 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 6 | DNS | Ret | 6 | Ret | ||||||||
| Jean Alesi Jean Alesi Jean Alesi is a French racing driver of Italian origin. His Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell, Benetton, Sauber, Prost, Jordan and most notably Ferrari where he proved very popular among the tifosi... |
6 | 2 | Ret | 7 | Ret | 8 | 11 | Ret | 8 | Ret | 8 | Ret | DNS | 8 |
Seven points scored with the Tyrrell 018
Tyrrell 018
The Tyrrell 018 was a Formula One racing car designed by Harvey Postlethwaite and Jean-Claude Migeot. It was built and raced by Tyrrell Racing. It used a customer Ford DFR engine....
.