Part 6 : The Prince of Monaco

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Ken Tyrrell drew the wraps off the new Tyrrell 008, in mid-November 1978, and to nobody's surprise it was a four-wheeler. Maurice Philippe designed a very light and low monocoque along mainly orthodox lines. The bodywork of the car extended right over the engine compartment with sunken ducts on each side of the cockpit so that air could be directed to the engine intakes. The front had a chisel-shaped nose cone, with forward swept canard fins attached to it. Some other minor features also appeared on the new car. A very interesting and radical feature was the electronic recording apparatus that was fitted to the car. It was there to monitor suspension behaviour and was the brainchild of an American scientist, Karl Kempf. Patrick took great interested in Kempf's technology and would give him very valuable feedback in the months to come.

Didier Pironi, a young French driver that did very well in minor single seater formulas in previous years, was signed as Depailler's teammate for the 1978 season. This was after Ronnie Peterson decided to join Colin Chapman's Lotus team.

When the 1978 F1 season kicked off in Argentina, the Tyrrell team was still smarting from the problems inflicted by the six-wheeler the previous year. The 008 was also the victim of several disquieting stories after initial tests and this was backed by performances on the first day of official practise in Argentina which seemed to guarantee Depailler and Pironi, the back row of the grid.

For the first time the Tyrrell-team were carrying electronic recording equipment on Patrick's car in official race practice as opposed to testing sessions. Plenty of fingers were pointing and caustic comments were thrown at Karl Kempf and his computerised programme. In one afternoon the team was written off as a serious threat. These comments, however, did not bother Depailler. He had a new front suspension system fitted for the second practise session after he suggested a softer setting. This was backed by the read-outs from the onboard recorder. This immediately made a big difference and Patrick managed to qualify the car in 10th position. He then asked for an even softer setting for the race itself and after the warm-up laps on race morning he was extremely confident.

Patrick's confidence was justified when he made a storming start and within a few laps he was amongst the top six runners in the race. On lap 14 he had made his way up to fourth place. Here he stayed until lap 41 when John Watson headed into the pits with engine problems. Patrick was now third and was chasing down Lauda for second place. At the finish Andretti won comfortably, but Lauda had to fend off the very close attentions of the Tyrrell. It was a happy Patrick that climbed onto the bottom step of the winners' rostrum.

The Brazilian GP was held on a brand new Jacarepagua circuit just outside Rio de Janeiro. The Tyrrell team had flown some parts out to upgrade Pironi's car to the same specification as the one that Patrick raced with success in Buenos Aires. Patrick started from 11th on the grid, but on lap 9 he spun his car. A brake master cylinder got damaged in the process and this put an end to his race. Pironi had a good run and was rewarded with sixth place at the finish.

It was a hot Kyalami that awaited the teams for the next race of the year. Patrick had a completely new chassis available and this was also fitted with a new suspension. A choice of rear suspensions had been brought to South Africa and the team settled on a layout which gave better results away from corners, as opposed to a layout that was better in fast corners. Depailler found it difficult to adjust to this compromise and his best lap in practice was only good enough for a six-row position on the starting grid.

On race morning, though, he was again a very confident man and told his mechanic that the car was perfect and that he just had to polish it for him. Like in Argentina he was soon fighting his way to the front after the start. Within seven laps he was in sixth position and was trying to find a way past Jabouille's Renault. By lap 28 he was second. Riccardo Patrese was a surprised leader at the time and Patrick could make no impression on the Italian's lead. Then suddenly on lap 64 Patrese's engine blew up and Patrick was leading the Grand Prix.

With 14 laps left in the race everything was not going to be plain sailing for the Frenchman. Andretti was pushing hard and catching, while puffs of smoke were also coming from the Tyrrell. With three laps left Andretti had to pit, but it was his teammate, Peterson that immediately took over the challenge. Depailler was now in real trouble as his fuel system was failing to pick up. On the final lap Peterson caught the Tyrrell at Crowthorne. The next few corners saw the cars racing side-by-side and also banging wheels. Then at the Esses the Lotus got through into the lead. Bitter, bitter disappointment for Depailler. Here he was robbed within sight of the chequered flag. Yet again he was the bridesmaid and his body language said it all, as he strolled towards the winners' podium after the race. After the race it was found that his car still had nearly 15 litres of fuel in its tank. It was thus not a case of his car running dry, but rather a problem with the fuel system.

After the disappointment in South Africa, Patrick had some more set backs in the qualifying rounds for the next race in Long Beach. He suffered from all sorts of mechanical failures that ranged from a broken drive shaft to ignition problems. It all meant that he had to be satisfied with yet another mid-field grid position. The Frenchman, however, drove a fantastic race again and was rewarded with yet another podium finish. Reutemann in his Ferrari won the race; Andretti's Lotus was second and the Tyrrell driver third.

Monaco a couple of weeks later turned out to be one of the happiest weekends in the life of Patrick Depailler. It was at first an extremely dejected Patrick that was standing in his pits during the Thursday's practise. Both Tyrrells had collapsed rear suspensions and smashed water radiators. The radius arm on his racecar and that of the spare car had simply folded in half under the vibration and load of the Monaco corners. Maurice Philippe, the designer of the Tyrrell, was equally dejected. Stronger rear uprights and radius arms were hastily made at the Tyrrell factory and brought over from England in time for the second practice runs.

Photo courtesy of Peter Dick

Patrick made the most of his team's one and only set of quick qualifying tyres, by securing fifth place on the grid. There were no real problems further in practice and the 008 handled remarkably well. A lightning fast start meant that Patrick was second behind Watson's Brabham at the first corner after the start. An extremely close battle developed between Watson, Depailler and Lauda. At quarter distance Watson ran into brake problems, after being persistently pressured by the Frenchman. This finally resulted in the Brabham missing the chicane at half distance. Depailler took over first place and was at first menaced by Lauda, until the Austrian had to pit for new tyres. Patrick kept his lead until the end of the race, thereby winning his first F1 Grand Prix. His day of glory had finally arrived. Niki Lauda made the comment after the race that the small Depailler was now the tallest man walking around in Monaco. Patrick was also leading the Drivers' World Championship on points after this race, becoming the first French driver to do so since the championship was first started in 1950.

This honour was however short-lived, since in the following two Grands Prix, in Belgium and Spain, he could not score a single point. First it was gearbox problems that sidelined him at Zolder and then engine problems at Jarama also lead to retirement.

For the second year running, Depailler and Jabouille teamed up for Renault at the Le Mans 24 Hour race in mid-June. Patrick set second fastest time in the team's potent Renault Alpine A443 - the fastest time ever recorded by an Alpine at Le Sarthe. A top speed of 359 km/h was recorded on the long Hunaudières straight. Jabouille started the race and after nearly an hour he handed over to Patrick. At the time the car had a bad vibration problem.
With the first hour gone, Patrick was 4th and challenging hard for third place. When the leaders pulled into the pits for fuel, Patrick took over the lead, but then the vibration problem started again. By the time the problem was solved, after a few pit stops, they had dropped back to 7th position.

Patrick again made a tremendous effort to make up the lost ground and at 23h00 they were leading the race again. They had a good run throughout the night to keep the lead. Jabouille also set a lap record in the process. Orders were then given to take things easy. Just before 10h00 and with a lead of nearly 9 laps, Depailler unfortunately had to stop at Mulsanne with a seized engine. This robbed him of winning two of the world's three most prestigious motor races, the other being the Indianapolis 500 and naturally the Monaco Grand Prix, in one year.

The Swedish and French Grand Prix also brought no success, this in spite of several changes that were made to the Tyrrells in time for the Paul Ricard race. It was again the Cosworth DFV engine, that somehow became very unreliable, that was responsible for Depailler's downfall in France. At the British Grand Prix Patrick scored his first World Championship point since his victory in Monaco. He finished in fourth place after a strong drive, following a pit stop to replace a punctured tyre. Unfortunately by now he had lost his grip on the World Championship, which was firmly in the hands of the two Lotus drivers, Mario Andretti and Ronnie Peterson.

The German GP on 30 July was a major disappointment for Depailler. After a mid-field grid position, his race ended after only a couple of meters. The green light was shown, while several cars were still moving to form up on the back rows of the grid. This caused major confusion and Patrick's car was punted from behind by Stommelen. The Tyrrell again slammed into the back of Tambay's Mclaren. A badly damaged racing car and retirement, being the end result.

The Tyrrells were fitted with full-length undertrays in the search for more outright speed at the Austrian Grand Prix two weeks later. Patrick made superb progress, from his mid-field grid position, on a damp circuit after the start of the race. He was soon in third place behind Peterson and Scheckter. The race, however, was stop after just seven laps, after several cars had spun off on the slippery circuit. Patrick was by then in second position and it was from this position that he took the re-start. The race was scheduled for 47 laps, with the times of each race being taken in consideration.

Depailler lead the race for about half a lap after the second start, before being passed by Peterson. Lauda and Reutemann soon also got pass the Tyrrell. By lap 12 of the re-started race, Depailler came into the pits to change to slick tyres. Later in the race a battle developed between Villeneuve, Stuck and Depailler for second place. On lap 25 Patrick got pass Stuck and a lap later he also overtook Villeneuve. When the chequered flag came out he was still in second place, albeit 50 seconds behind the winner Peterson. The treacherous conditions very much played into the hands of the Frenchman that yet again proved that was very much a force to be recon with under very difficult and demanding conditions.

At the time of the Dutch Grand Prix a few days later, rumours were spreading in the paddock of driver line-ups for the new season. Amongst these rumours, the name of Depailler was mentioned. Patrick was just his happy self and brushed off any questions in this regard, with a smile. There was truth, however, in the speculations that Patrick would not be with Ken Tyrrell's team in 1979. Patrick was approached by Guy Ligier to drive for him. This was a most difficult decision for Depailler and something he was still considering at the time.

Two dismal races at Zandvoort and Monza probably help him with his final decision what option to choose for the following year. The Italian Grand Prix also turned out be a very tragic race in the end. At the start of the race several cars were involved in a nasty accident. Peterson was trapped in his burning car, but with the aid of Hunt, Regazzoni and Depailler he was freed from the wreckage. Tragically, the Swede died the following day from his injuries. The Italian driver, Vittorio Brambilla also suffered serious head injury in the start line accident. Patrick's car was damaged in the chaos and he therefore had to switch to the spare car for the re-start. He had a dismal race and was surely affected by Peterson's accident. Depailler finished the race in a distant 11th position.

By the time that the teams arrived in North America for the final two races of the year, Patrick had made up his mind. The patriotic prospects of driving for a French team was also a major drawing factor that made him sign the contract with Ligier. Depailler and Jacques Laffite would further have equal number one status within the team.

Photo courtesy of Peter Dick

The inaugural F1 race at the new Montreal circuit was also the last race for Patrick in the Tyrrell team. He was hoping that the car would perform better on the twisty circuit than what they have done on the faster circuits during the year. Unfortunately this was not the case and he could only set 13th fastest time in practice. In the race he once again made one of his demon quick starts and was running in 5th place after just six laps. On lap 17, though, he had to pit for fresh tyres. His choice of running on very soft tyres proved to be the wrong option. The pit stop dropped him back to 13th position. Patrick fought back bravely to claim fifth position again, by lap 50. Here he stayed for the rest of the race and was thus rewarded by a points finish in his final race for Ken Tyrrell.

Patrick finished the season on 38 points and was classified 5th overall the 1978 Drivers' World Championship. What thus started off as a most promising season in F1, turned out as a big disappointment in the end.

The five years at Tyrrell brought not as much success as Patrick would have liked to achieve. He nevertheless established himself as one of the top drivers in F1 and his race craft was much acknowledged by his fellow drivers and the personnel of all the other teams. Ken Tyrrell was very sorry to loose the services of a driver that had become almost like a son for him and someone that co-operated so well within the team, with his optimism and passionate approach to the sport in general.

After the Grands Prix in the USA and Canada, Patrick was invited to take part in the International Race of Champions series race at Riverside in California. The format of the competition was that special qualifying races were staged for NASCAR, Indy Car and Road Racing drivers. The first four finishers of each race, advanced to two final contests. Other F1 drivers that also competed in this race were Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti, Alan Jones, John Watson and Niki Lauda. The race was held over a distance of 76 miles (30 laps). Depailler started in third position in his Chev Camaro and finished 6th in an exciting race.

The following day he found himself on the same circuit in yet another unfamiliar car and racing category. He was entered by Paul Newman to compete in the Can Am Challenge race over 50 laps. Patrick was quite impressed by the powerful, but strange looking Spyder-Chev. He was starting the race in a creditable six position, but had to retire on lap 13 with valve problems.

On 1/2 November 1978 Depailler competed in his last races for the year. It was the Texaco Rallysprint event that was organized by Nick Brittan. An event that saw the drivers competing in a circuit race as well as rally stages, at the Donington circuit in England. Patrick was one of five Grand Prix drivers that competed - the others were John Watson, Jody Scheckter, Patrick Tambay and Alan Jones. There were also five Rally drivers namely, Andy Dawson, Russell Brookes, Brian Nelson, Bjorn Waldegard and Ari Vatanen.

In the circuit challenge the drivers competed in similar Ford Fiestas, which Nick Brittan provided. As expected this race saw door handle racing and most of the cars were badly battered after the race. Depailler finished in sixth place in this exciting race. The following day the drivers were timed over a pre-selected rally course. Patrick was driving a Lancia Stratos and found it quite enjoyable, but difficult to drive. In his first run he set 6th fastest time and he went one place better on his second run. He finished fifth overall in the competition. The winner was Dawson followed by Brookes, Watson and Scheckter.

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