Part 5 : The Six-Wheel Experiment

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Judged by Ken Tyrrell's own hypercritical success-weaned standards, 1975 must have been condemned as a dismal year for his team. The only real success was Scheckter's win in South Africa. In October 1975 there were gasps of disbelief when the team unveiled the revolutionary six-wheeler that was designed by Derek Gardner. The winter testing programme was very much left in Patrick's capable hands. His experience as test driver at Alpine in the early days of his career was the reason that Patrick's technical know-how was always widely acknowledge by friend and foe alike. So successful was the team's tests that it exceeded the wildest expectations of many a critic.

Patrick was really enthused and very optimistic about the Tyrrell P34, a sentiment that was not shared by teammate Scheckter. Depailler would later describe the 6-wheel car as follows: "I was attached to it as if it was my own child in spite of its faults, in spite of its caprices - because it was the expression of a big idea."

His command of the English language had improved so much over the previous two years, that he now could confidently discuss technical matters and problems with his team. The winter test runs at Paul Ricard and Silverstone was enough to convince the team that six wheels was the way to go in 1976, but for the first few races of the year they continued to use the Tyrrell 007 models.

Photo courtesy of Marius Matthee

With the cancellation of the Argentinian GP due to political and economic problems, it was the turn of Brazil to host the first event of the new Grand Prix season at the Interlagos circuit. Both Depailler and Scheckter were not happy during the qualifying rounds, due to the fact that their cars suffered from poor handling. They could only managed 9th and 13th spots respectively on the starting grid. The race was held in very hot conditions and Patrick had one of his gritty drives, that eventually saw him climbing on to the runner-up spot of the winner's rostrum.

More than a month after the Brazilian GP the Tyrrell team arrived at Kyalami to contest the South African GP. The cars were still suffering with ill-handling, but Patrick nevertheless set the 6th fastest time in qualifying and by doing so, he handsomely out qualified Scheckter who could only managed 12th spot on the grid. In the race Patrick held 6th position until lap 16 when he tried to out brake both Brambilla and Peterson at the end of the main straight. His brakes locked and the car went sideways, plucking the rear-wheel of Peterson's car in the process. Depailler lost half a lap in the ensuing melee, which he was never able to regain. He finished the race in 9th place.

A totally new GP venue was the next race on the '76 calendar. Long Beach in California was looking forward to see the world's best drivers in action on their newly laid out street circuit. Depailler reminded everyone that he had a reputation as a street racer. Remember Monaco in F3? Pau in F2? Things, though, did not go that well for the French driver when he got stranded with electrical problems in practise. Then with just a few minutes left of the final qualifying session, Patrick roared out of the pits. He could fit in only a handful of laps in the time that was left, but one of these was good enough to clinch second spot on the grid. The way that Patrick manhandled the Tyrrell 007 in those few laps with power slides and opposite locks aplenty, was a sight that many spectators would never forget in their lives.

Photo courtesy of Marius Matthee

Regazzoni took the lead at the start, while Patrick held on to 2nd place. On the third lap Depailler and Hunt were involved in a much-publicized incident. Hunt tried to overtake Depailler on the inside of one of the hairpin corners, but the Tyrrell driver closed the door in his face. The Englishman responded by darting over to the outside, but at the same moment the Tyrrell got sideways under braking and pushed the Mclaren into a wall. Hunt had to retire and was furious, since he thought that Patrick had pushed him off deliberately. He would stand next to the circuit for several laps and each time that Depailler passed him, he would shake his fist at the Frenchman. Patrick was not intimidated by this behaviour, but on lap 13 he had a spin and dropped back to 7th position. He soon recovered and was fighting his way past other competitors to clinch a well-deserved 3rd place.

At the post-race conference Hunt suddenly showed up and began accusing Patrick about the incident earlier in the race. Luckily Depailler kept his cool and told James that he was very sorry, even though he was not the guilty party. Hunt came off second best again. Later it was discovered that Hunt's car was in fact completely unharmed in the incident. If he had pressed the starter button after the car stalled, he would have been able to rejoin the race.

It was Patrick, though, who dropped the ball next time around. He was contracted by Renault-Alpine to drive their sports car in a few races in 1976. His first race of the season for them was at the Nürburgring 300km. Patrick was very quick in qualifying and easily claimed pole position for the race in his Alpine-Renault A442. Next to him on the front row was Rolf Stommelen in a Porsche 936 and in 3rd position was Jabouille in a similar Alpine-Renault A442.

It was teeming with rain at the start and as the cars hurtled up to the second turn, everything went haywire. Patrick spun his car into a barrier and destroyed it, while Jabouille was having a pirouette of his own in trying to avoid his teammate and also crashing his car in the process. Exit the Renault team at turn two! The Renault management, who had turned out in force to watch the race, were highly upset and decided to slap a three-race ban on Patrick. Not that he was too much upset with it all. He and Jabouille were smoking away on cigarettes that Patrick had pulled out from one of his race overall's pockets. Patrick was never seen without his "smokes" and this time it was no exception either.

The Spanish GP at Jarama saw the introduction of some new rules, amongst them the banning of tall engine air-intake boxes. It also saw the arrival of the six-wheel Tyrrell P34 in the hands of Depailler. Apart from the four 10 inch diameter front wheels and the numerous detailed features that had to be incorporated, the monocoque that extended to the rear wheels was similar to that of the 007 models, with the water radiators mounted on each side. Small Perspex windows were made to fit in the cockpit sides to allow the drivers to see the front wheels. A lower air-box, to fit in with the new rules, replaced the original taller one on the prototype.

Many considered the P34 a practical joke, but Patrick was determined to proof them wrong. In the qualifying session for the race he was very happy with the performance of the car and found it quick in a straight line and very stable through the corners of the Jarama circuit. He was amongst the fastest runners throughout these sessions and in the end he qualified in 3rd position. This immediately proofed to the other competitors that the new Tyrrell was very competitive.

On 2 May 1976 Depailler made history when a six-wheel car for the first time competed in a motor race. He was running in third place for the first 20 or so laps, when the brakes suddenly began to fail on the car. The car's brake fluid was overheating and on lap 26 he spun into the catch fencing, when the brakes completely failed on the approach to a corner. Even though this was a disappointing end to the race, there was still silent optimism in the Tyrrell team with the way the car performed on its debut.

Two weeks later, in Belgium, Tyrrell had a second P34 ready for Jody Scheckter. Patrick was again quick in practise and qualified 4th, while Scheckter started 7th. Depailler was running in 4th place when his engine blew on lap 30. Consolation for the Tyrrell team was Scheckter's 4th place, thereby earning the first points ever in a F1 Championship race by a six-wheeled car.

Patrick's favourite hunting ground, Monaco, was the next race on the calendar. The P34's looked brilliant in practice. They seemed to get around the tighter corners with uncanny ease in comparison to the other cars. Where the others looked sluggish, the Tyrrels simply slashed through. After the first practise session Patrick was heading the timetables with Scheckter second. In the second practice session Patrick suffered a stripped 2nd gear and had to switch to the spare Tyrrell 007. This robbed him of setting an even better time and in the end he had to be satisfied with 4th position on the grid. The Ferrari's of Lauda and Regazzoni occupied the first row and Peterson's March was third fastest.

Patrick was in 4th position for the first 14 laps after the start of the Grand Prix, but on the next lap he suffered a broken rear right crossbeam, that made the wheel cock in and thereby affecting the car's handling. He let Scheckter by, rather than trying to hold up his teammate. Patrick held on to third place to the end, even though the rear wheel was leaning in even more towards the end of the race.

The two P34's were sensational again during the qualifying sessions for the Swedish GP at Anderstorp and in the end Jody claimed pole position with Patrick on the second row. Mario Andretti took the lead with Scheckter in hot pursuit and Patrick in third. This was the pattern until the 46th lap when Andretti's engine let go. The Tyrrell drivers thus took over first and second positions in the race. At the chequered flag Jody was still in front. With Patrick 20 seconds behind his team mate. Everyone at Tyrrell was overjoyed with their success, while the other teams were worried that the P34 was indeed proving to be a serious threat.

There were three weeks separating the Swedish and French GP's and Patrick was hoping for a good result in front of the French spectators at Paul Ricard. Qualifying went well and he secured third position on the grid. At the start of the race he was passed by Regazzoni and occupied fourth position, before Peterson also overtook him on the next lap. Both the Ferrari's of Lauda and Regazzoni later on had to retire, which meant that Depailler moved up to third place. When Peterson dropped back, Patrick took over second place, which he kept until the end of the race. Hunt took victory by over 12 seconds.

After the French GP the season had reached its halfway mark. Patrick and James Hunt were lying in joint second position in the championship with 26 points each. The runaway leader at the time was Niki Lauda, who had exactly twice as many points as his two nearest rivals.

Patrick's hopes of challenging for the title was given a severe blow in the next four GP's in England, Germany, Austria and Holland when he failed to earn a single point. At Brands Hatch for the British GP he started on the third row of the grid. The start of the race was chaotic with several cars colliding at the first corner. The race stewards decided to stop the race due to the amount of debris that littered the circuit. Shortly after the second start, Depailler spun at Druids. He made it back to the pits for a quick inspection of the car, after which he continued with the race, albeit way down the order. He finally had to retire on lap 48 when his engine blew up.

The German GP at the Nurburgring in 1976 is still being remembered for Lauda's near fatal accident, which left him badly injured. Patrick started from third position on the grid, but made a bad start and was passed by several cars. The race was stop on the second lap after Lauda's accident. At the restart of the race Patrick had crept up to fourth position, but all hopes of success was eliminated when he touched a rear wheel of Regazzoni's Ferrari after it had spun in front of the Frenchman. Depailler ended up in the catch fencing and that brought an immediate end to his race.

At the Österreichring Patrick had a dismal time during practice and could only qualify in 13th position. He had equally bad race. On the 25th lap his car suffered an apparent front suspension failure. Holland was just as disappointing with Patrick starting in 14th position at Zandvoort. In the race he had to settle in mid-field, but in the end he managed to finish the race in 7th position. While Patrick was having this dismal spell, Scheckter impressed with second places at Brands Hatch and the Nürburgring. The six-wheel Tyrrell was thus still very much a factor in the races.

A week after the Dutch GP things started to look brighter again for Patrick. He was competing at the Dijon 500km Sports Car race. Following his Nurburgring faux pas earlier in the season and his subsequent three-race ban, he did eventually compete in two other races for the Renault team. At the Coppa Florio 4 Hour race at Enna in June he claimed pole position, but had to retire during the race with engine problems and at the Mosport 200 Miles race in Canada in August, he finished fourth. For the Dijon 500km he teamed up with Jacques Laffite and like at the Coppa Floria they again qualified the car on pole position. In a hard fought race they finally finished second to the Porsche 936 that was driven by Ickx and Mass. Patrick's few races for the Renault team in 1976 was thus quite rewarding in the end.

The next Grand Prix after the Dijon sports car race was the Italian GP at Monza. Depailler started from fourth on the grid. Early in the race he held third place behind Scheckter and Peterson. Peterson took the lead on lap 11 and Patrick also managed to pass Scheckter on lap 13 to claim second position. The Tyrrell was following Peterson's March very closely until the 32nd lap when he managed to scramble passed the Swede. Patrick only led briefly before Peterson passed him again. More attempts followed to take the lead, but Peterson had an answer every time and determinedly held on to his lead. Depailler very unfortunately ran into engine trouble within the next couple of laps. In the process his ailing car was passed by several other drivers and in the end he could only finish in sixth position. This was one of Patrick's best performances in a Grand Prix race.

After the cancellation of the Canadian GP in 1975, the race once again returned to Mosport as the first of the two end of season North American races. Patrick was on good form again and started the race once again from fourth on the grid. He squeezed through into third place at the first corner after the start. This he held for a while until he successfully took over second place from Peterson. The French driver was now in hot pursuit of the leader James Hunt. Halfway through the race Hunt was still leading, but had his work cut out to stay ahead of Depailler. The Tyrrell was fractionally quicker around the circuit, particularly through the fast right hand corners. Hunt was able to stay in front, since he was getting through the traffic better. This happened time and again. Near the end of the race the Tyrrell driver suddenly began to slip back from the Mclaren. Hunt won in the end with Patrick taking second place.

The reason why Hunt began to pull away was that Patrick was overcome by petrol fumes that were leaking from a diaphragm behind his head. He was nearly unconscious behind the wheel and as soon as he crossed the finishing line, he pulled to the side of the road. The moment he stepped from the car he collapsed next to it. Patrick said afterwards that he had been driving like a drunk, taking each corner as it came, not exactly sure where he was on the track. He felt as though he had drunk a bottle of wine. The padded lining of his helmet was completely saturated with petrol. This was a typical example of his gritty determination to keep trying to the very end. Ken Tyrrell's warning of some years back to never quit had rubbed off well on his driver. A minor consolation for Patrick was that he set fastest lap during the race.

One week later the teams arrived at Watkins Glen. The early Friday practise round was held in wet conditions and Patrick was fifth fastest. During the afternoon session he had a lucky escape when Hunt's Mclaren dropped its starter-motor's air cylinder right in the path of the closely following Tyrrell. Luckily Depailler was not hurt, but the flying missile severely damaged the two left front wheels and also bended the front suspension of the car.

Patrick later joked about the incident when he told Hunt that it was not necessary to throw things at him, even though he knew that the Englishman did not like him that much. The bent suspension hindered Depailler's progress in the remaining practise time and in the end he had to settle with seventh position on the starting grid. Teammate Scheckter lead the race from his front row position. Patrick was in fifth position when he had to retire on only the 8th lap with a disconnected fuel pipe.

The final GP of 1976 was held in Japan at the Fuji International Speedway. For the first time this country got the opportunity to host a World Championship Grand Prix. Patrick did not have a happy practise session and started the race from 13th position. On race day it was raining very hard and mist also enveloped the circuit. The start of the race was delayed due to the rain, but when the cars finally set off, the weather conditions were still atrocious. Hunt lead from the start while the others did their utmost to keep their cars pointing in the right direction on the slippery surface.

It was raining for most of the first 22 laps and by that time Patrick had moved up to third place. On lap 36 he was in second place behind Hunt who was still leading. He dropped back to third on lap 40 when Pryce got passed him, but on lap 47 he was again second when Pryce's Shadow retired with engine problems. At the time some of the drivers were beginning to experience problems with tyre wear. The wet weather tyres were overheating on the drying circuit. On lap 62 Patrick passed Hunt to take the lead in the race. He was set to win the race, but only a few laps later his left rear tyre began to deflate and he ended up limping into the pits for a tyre change.

Andretti took over the lead and by the time Patrick rejoined the race, he had dropped back to fifth position. Hunt also had to pit with a tyre problem, which meant that Patrick was in fourth place. On lap 70 Patrick made up two more places when he passed both Regazzoni and Jones. He was now in second position, but a lap down on the leader Mario Andretti. They stayed in this order for the final few laps. Hunt came home in third place and by doing so he clinched the World Championship by a single point from Niki Lauda.

Patrick finished 4th in the Driver's World Championship standings behind Hunt, Lauda and Scheckter. He was quite disappointed with not being able to continue his good results of the first half of the year. He had scored five second places during the season and Patrick must have wondered why no one ever breaks down in front of him. By normal standards, Team Tyrrell had a very good year, particularly when one takes in consideration their bold six-wheel step and the scepticism that were shown by the other teams at the beginning of the year.

It came as no surprise at the end of 1976 when Jody Scheckter decided to quit the Tyrrell team for the richer pastures of Wolf Racing. After three years with Tyrrell it was obvious that he did not fit into the family atmosphere of the Tyrrell team as well as Depailler or Stewart before that. Ken Tyrrell decided to sign Ronnie Peterson for 1977. Patrick thus would have a very experienced teammate and also a driver that was widely acknowledge as the fastest in Grand Prix racing at the time.

The Project P34 Tyrrells underwent extensive modifications throughout the winter of 1976/77. A new one-piece fibreglass body that extended over the entire length of the chassis, engine and rear suspension was one of the more obvious differences from its predecessor. A wider track was also adopted at the front. All through the season some more modifications was made to the car.

There was an enormous amount of interest for the first Grand Prix of the year in Argentina. Various driver transfers took place during the off-season and several teams had new cars. Patrick in his re-bodied Tyrrell, who now also carried additional sponsorship from First National City, an American bank, dominated the initial practise rounds. Later both Hunt (Mclaren) and Watson (Brabham) improved on the times that Patrick had set and he thus started from the second row.

Race day was extremely hot and several drivers had fitted thermos flasks in their cars, which were filled with a variety of cool drinks for consumption during the race. Hunt apparently had orange juice with glucose and Peterson mineral water with glucose. Derek Gardner of Tyrrell jokingly told others in the pit lane that he was not quite sure what Patrick had in his bottle, but he would not be surprised if it was French wine. Depailler, true to his French roots, was quite a wine connoisseur, which was probably the reason why Derek made this comment.

Patrick's good form in practise deserted him in the race thanks to a variety of maladies. Overheating problems finally put an end to his race on the 33rd lap. Peterson had an even more disappointing debut race for Tyrrell. He started from 14th position and had to retire after he spun his car during the race.

Two weeks after the Argentinean race the teams arrived in Sao Paulo to contest the Brazilian GP at Interlagos. This was the six-wheel Tyrrells first visit to this circuit and lots of time was spent to eradicate acute understeer problems. Patrick did very well to qualify the difficult handling car on the third row. Peterson was one row behind his teammate. For the first couple of laps during the race, Patrick was holding on to sixth position. On lap 13 there was drama when Mass spun in one of the corners. Some of the catch fencing was thrown onto the circuit and this caused several cars to spin, including that of Depailler.

Luckily he did not hit anything and could continue, but on lap 22 he had to stop at the pits to replace a punctured rear tyre. This meant that he dropped even further down the order. Still it was not the end of his problems, since two laps later he had an accident at the same corner where he had spun earlier. Worst of all is that he crashed into Mass's Mclaren that was still standing at that particular spot since his retirement from the race. Patrick injured his knee in the process and had to be carried to a waiting ambulance. He was taken to a local hospital for observation. The only luck he had all weekend was when he received the news that his knee was not seriously injured and that will be fit to race in the next GP.

The six-week interval between the Brazilian and South African Grands Prix was enough time for Patrick to recover from his injury. At Kyalami he was fast again in practise and qualified in 4th position and yet again he out qualified Ronnie Peterson. After the first lap of the race Patrick was lying in fourth place behind Hunt, Lauda and Scheckter. The raced was marred by tragedy on the 21st lap when Tom Pryce was killed in a freak accident. A marshal ran in front of his car and Pryce was killed when the fire extinguisher he carried, hit the unfortunate Shadow driver on the head. The marshal was also killed in the accident.

The race stewards did not stop the race and by half distance Lauda was leading from Scheckter. Hunt came under pressure from Depailler, but the Mclaren driver hung on to third place for lap after lap. Patrick's efforts to pass were hairy indeed. With less than a dozen laps to go the Frenchman got inside the Mclaren at Crowthorne Corner. James closed the door, but Patrick just kept coming. His wheels bouncing over the kerbing, completely off line and fighting to keep the Tyrrell in a straight line, but he was through and off after Scheckter. Watching Depailler during the last few laps was quite something and his spirited drive was a highlight of the race. In the end he just failed by half a second to catch Scheckter's Wolf and by doing so, he finished in third place.

Patrick was hoping to repeat his good performances of the South African race when the teams arrived in Long Beach for the next round of the World Championship. Both Tyrrell drivers were however finding their cars more than a handful during practice. Depailler also lost valuable time when he made contact with a wall and broke a rear upright in the process. Later he was further sidelined with gearbox trouble. He had to be satisfied with a disappointing 12th position on the grid. A good start saw him finishing the first lap in eight position. He continued to pass other competitors and occupied fifth spot by lap 16. Despite suffering from brake problems he drove a hard race and eventually took the chequered flag in fourth position.

The Spanish GP at the Jarama circuit saw the start of the 1977 European Grand Prix season. Depailler had a brand new six-wheel Tyrrell, but it was built to the previous year's specifications. This team decided on this move to try and boost their flagging fortunes, but this still did not help much. Depailler and Peterson qualified in mid-field, with the French driver retiring after only 12 laps with a blown engine. Peterson was equally uncompetitive in the race and finished eight.

Two weeks later in Monte Carlo the Tyrrell boys were still struggling. This time it was brake problems that were causing most of the problems over the weekend. Both drivers were looking forward to the race, since it was a circuit they liked very much. Ronnie was the faster of the two during practise and was starting from the second row, while Patrick was on row four. Right from the start of the race it was obvious that both cars were in trouble with poor braking performance. Peterson came into the pits on only the 11th lap with the hope of fixing the brakes. The team could find no immediate cure and the Swede retired on the spot. Patrick in the mean time was having a tough race and was dropping back through continually having to pump his brake pedal. It was gearbox problems, though, that lead to his retirement on lap 47.

A total of 32 drivers arrived in Zolder early in June with the hope of qualifying for the 26 places on the grid, for the Belgian GP. The competitors were met by cold and damp weather, which continued for most of the weekend. The drivers tried to make the most of Friday's practise on a damp circuit, except Patrick.

The Friday night he was quite a worried man, since he found himself, unbelievably, at the bottom of the time chart. If Saturday turned out wet, he was not going to qualify for the race. The reason for his dilemma was that he used the spare car for only a few laps, while they were fitting a new rear suspension to his race car. By the time the race car was ready, the circuit was too wet to even try for a decent time.

Luckily it was dry on Saturday and Patrick could breath again. At the start of the last hour of practise, it seemed for a few minutes that Depailler might even take pole position. As the cars were waved out of the pits, Patrick was one of the first to go. The weather again looked very threatening at the time and he drove like a man possessed. He simply had to set a time to get himself into the race. This was his first objective, but soon it was clear that he was threatening to take pole position from the more fancied drivers. In the end he set the fifth fastest time.

On race day it was raining prior to the start and the teams decided to start on wet weather tyres. Patrick was lying in fifth position after the first lap and on lap eight he was the first driver, except for Stuck, that made a stop for dry tyres. This caused him to drop down the order. Cars were in and out of the pits soon afterwards and the lap scorers had a very difficult time to keep track of what really was going on in the race. Patrick unfortunately did not benefit from his early stop, as was his hope, and he never featured amongst the top six drivers. Peterson on the other hand was having his best race for Tyrrell and eventually finished third. Patrick came home in 8th position, more than a lap behind the winner, Gunnar Nilsson.

Photo courtesy of Marius Matthee

The weekend of 11/12 June saw the return of Depailler to the Le Mans 24 Hour race after a four-year absence. Renault Sport had entered three of their turbocharged Renault Alpine A442's for this race. Patrick and Jacques Laffite were asked to drive one of the team's cars. The speed of these cars was phenomenal in practice and pole position went to Jabouille and Derek Bell, while Patrick's car was only a fraction slower. The front row of the grid thus saw an all Renault Alpine front row. The third car, that of Patrick Tambay/Jean-Pierre Jaussaud, started from fourth position.

The A442'S ran very strongly in the race, but eventually they all had to retire with mechanical problems. Depailler's car was the last one to retire, when their engine let go after 22 hours. Patrick's pace was something that really entertained the thousands of spectators. Lap after lap he was setting some of the fastest laps of the race and there were many disappointed French fans around the circuit, when he and Laffite were also out of the race.

Nilsson's win and Peterson's third place in Belgium were great news for the Swedish fans and they arrived in their thousands at the Anderstorp circuit, with the hope of seeing one of their countrymen taking another victory. Unfortunately for them, it was a weekend where French drivers stole the limelight. In practice Patrick had the upper hand and was the fastest of the Tyrrells. He qualified sixth, while Peterson was back in tenth position. Depailler had a steady race, but it was his compatriot, Jacques Laffite, that surprised everyone when he scored a most convincing win in his Ligier-Matra. Patrick finished in fourth place and must have had mixed feelings when he heard the French National Anthem being played after the race. He must have felt patriotic joy for the first all-French (car and driver) victory in a World Championship Grand Prix, but also disappointment, since a GP victory was still eluding him after all these years.

Some people would also have said after the Swedish GP that Depailler was not the "Big French Hope" in GP racing anymore when the teams arrived in Dijon for the French GP. Laffite's surprising win made him an instant hero in France. Not that this would have bothered Patrick that much, since he was never one that competed to satisfy the needs of others. He was a racing driver since he liked the sport like nothing else in the world. It was done for his own enjoyment and satisfaction, therefore the need to meet the expectations of his many fans were very much secondary. Not that Patrick did not care for his huge league of loyal supporters. He was very much one of the most approachable of all the F1 drivers of the time and always had time for a quick chat or to comment on journalists questions and to sign an autograph for a fan.

Patrick again used a much-modified car at Dijon. It featured a 10-inch wider front track that made the front wheels stuck out front behind the front aerofoil. Practise was disappointing again for the Tyrrells and Patrick found himself 12th on the grid, while Peterson was in a lowly 17th position. On lap 22 of the race, Patrick was lying in tenth position when Hans Stuck's Brabham suddenly hit him from behind. This caused the Tyrrell to spin into retirement.

With the completion of the French GP the season had reached its halfway mark and it was clear that the Tyrrell team was experiencing serious problems, since their drivers could only score 14 points between the two of them. The biggest problem for the team was the lack of development on the car's small front tyres. Goodyear's tyre development was continuing as usual for the normal racing tyres, so the P34's rear ones were being improved all the time, but little work was being done to the small 10-inch tyres. The front tyres gave trouble with lack of adhesion and also high wear rates, which was caused by the improved rear tyres that made them work overtime. The Tyrrell team did not immediately recognize this and they began to loose their way, puzzled why the improved chassis was not as competitive as the original ones in 1976.

At the British GP, Patrick had a car that was even wider than before, both at the front and rear. The wheelbase was also fractionally longer and the body was made of lighter material. Still, though, it did not seem to work. He qualified in a dismal 18th position and in the race he was no factor at all. On lap 17 he had to retire when he drove straight off into the catch-fences at Copse Corner, when the brakes on his car failed.

After Lauda's near fatal accident at the Nürburgring the previous year, the organizers of the German GP decided that this circuit was too dangerous for modern F1 cars and that the Hockenheimring would in future host their GP. Patrick was 15th on the grid. At the start of the race he forgot that a flag, rather than the regular green light would start the race. A service truck had damaged the starting lights on the weekend of the race. Patrick remained stationery for a second or two, but when he eventually got going chaos reigned amongst him. Cars were trying to avoid the Tyrrell and were passing it left and right. Regazzoni unfortunately hit some cars in the process, although Patrick was not one of them. Again he made not much progress in the race and on lap 23 his race came to an end with a broken engine.

The Austrian and Dutch Grands Prix also brought no luck. Mid-field grid positions in both races were followed by a 13th place at the finish in Austria, after he was delayed by a puncture during the race, and yet another engine failure at the Zandvoort race. Tyrrell was in desperate need for a good result, but there seemed to be no light at the end of the long, dark tunnel.

Patrick was invited by Fred Opert Racing to compete in their Chevron B39 in two races of the Canadian Formula Atlantic Challenge Series during September. The first of these two races was at Trois Rivieres, the street circuit where he had performed with distinction in 1974 and 1975. He again showed his speed and claimed a front row position on the grid. In the race he finished third. The second race for Opert Racing was three weeks later at the GP du Quèbec in Quèbec City, another street circuit and again he finished third.

In between the Atlantic races, the F1 circus visited Monza for the Italian GP. The Tyrrell team's bad luck continued and it was also at this time that Derek Gardner, the brain behind the six-wheel Tyrrell, decided to leave the team. He received a tempting offer to join Borg Warner as a director. This was very much the final nail in the P34-project's coffin. Patrick's Monza-weekend again consisted of the now familiar low grid position, followed by retirement in the race.

Life for the ever cheerful Frenchman must have reached an all time low at the time. Not only was there no success on the racing circuits, but his personal life was also in shambles. Patrick and Michèle got separated after a ten-year marriage. Michèle was always very worried when Patrick was behind the wheel of a racing car. When she attended some of his races, she couldn't bare watching and would sometimes hide away in the pits or someplace else. She could not even look at the cars, since she was afraid that he might have an accident. Tom Pryce's accident at Kyalami really had a major influence on her, since it happened right in front of her. Their marriage had reached a point where she could stand the stress no more. Racing on the other hand had a narcotic hold on Patrick. He would later say the following about their separation: "She is scared of what I do - How can I blame her? But how can I stop this? Most of all it is necessary to be honest with yourself."

One week after the Formula Atlantic race in Canada, Patrick moved south of the border to compete in the United States GP at Watkins Glen. Depailler and Peterson were surprised by the performance of their much-maligned Tyrrells during practice. They were a full 16km/h faster than anyone through the Glen's speed trap. At least the cars lived up to their reputation of being fast in a straight line. "If", reflected Patrick, "if all the circuits had been like this one…"The race itself was a dismal affair for Patrick. He slipped back to 14th position after the second lap and also finished the race in the same position - more than three laps behind the winner.

Five days later Patrick was practising at Mosport for the Canadian GP. Again the Tyrrells did well in practise. Ronnie qualified an excellent third on the grid, while Patrick was occupying the sixth position slot. Patrick had a good start, this time, and was lying in fourth position by lap 5. He was racing his best race of the year and brought the Tyrrell home in a creditable second place. It was a drive that was as every bit as heroic as his second place at this race the previous year. He again thrilled the crowd with great armfuls of self-induced oversteer to try fight the terrible understeer the car was experiencing during the race. At last he was rewarded with some World Championship points. It was thorough reward for a driver that was going through difficult times.

The final race of 1977 in Japan also brought Patrick some success. Poor handling was yet again spoiling the Tyrrell team's practice sessions. Patrick could only qualify 15th, while Ronnie was even lower down the order in 18th position. On the sixth lap of the race Peterson was hit from behind by Villeneuve's Ferrari, which caused the Tyrrell to spin off the circuit. The Ferrari was launched into the air and somersaulted over the barriers into an occupied area with spectators. The flying car killed two people and several others were seriously injured.

On the circuit Patrick was making steady progress through the field and with five laps to go he was in fifth position. The following lap he managed to pass Alan Jones to claim fourth position. He gained another place when Laffite's Ligier ran out of fuel on the last lap. Patrick was very happy with his third position and was the only driver on the winner's rostrum after the race. Somewhat embarrassed he stood there spraying the champagne on his own. The race winner, James Hunt, had left immediately after the race to catch a plane, while second place man, Carlos Reutemann, also didn't show up.

With his third position in Japan, Patrick finished the season on 20 points and was also classified eighth in the Driver's World Championship. Poor Ronnie Peterson finished the season on seven points. After Tyrrell was regarded as a leading contender in F1 ever since their arrival, they had slumped dismally in 1977. For the first time they also had gone through a season without a single victory.

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