Tyrrell 025

The Tyrrell 025 was the car the Tyrrell Formula One team used to compete in the 1997 Formula One season. It was driven by Mika Salo, who was in his third season with the team, and Jos Verstappen, who moved from Footwork.

The 025 was an evolution of the previous year's 024, with Ford V8 engines instead of Yamaha V10s in the interests of reliability. However, this came at the expense of power against the V10 cars.

The year was largely disappointing for the team. The chassis was well-balanced, the drivers were quick and the strategy was good but the increase in competitiveness in the sport saw them restricted to a battle with fellow V8 runner Minardi for much of the season. The team's frustration was came from the fact that the cars were often closer in terms of raw pace to the front-runners than in F1|1996, but further away on the grid and in the race results.

The team's two points came from an inventive non-stop run from Salo at the 1997 Monaco Grand Prix to finish fifth, despite a damaged front wing. They would prove to be Tyrrell's last points in F1, as Ken Tyrrell sold the team to the fledgling British American Racing team before the F1|1998 season began.

As ever, the team used a fair degree of technical innovation. On high-downforce circuits (such as Monaco), two additional wings were installed either side of the cockpit. To distinguish between the drivers, Verstappen's were painted yellow and Salo's dark orange. These "X-wings" would be banned during 1998 after safety concerns in the pitlane, by which point other teams had begun using them.

The team eventually finished tenth in the Constructors' Championship, with two points.

Complete Formula One Results

() (results in bold indicate pole position)

References

*"AUTOCOURSE 1997-98", Henry, Alan (ed.), Hazleton Publishing Ltd. (1997) ISBN 1-874557-47-0