The COAT - Round Two - Lotus 79 vs Tyrrell P34

[crmalcolm]

The eighth match in Round Two, and we have the Lotus 79 up against the Tyrrell P34.

The Lotus 79 took a comfortable 6-1 victory over the Brabham BT49 in the first round, whilst the Tyrrell took a (somewhat controversial) tie-break win over the Ferrari 156 F1.

Lotus 79 (snaplap.net):
Lotus 79 was the car that won both Drivers’ and Constructors’ Formula 1 World Championship titles in 1978.

Colin Chapman, the owner of Lotus Team, always was ready for the innovations and experiments on his F1 cars. Some of them weren’t glorious but many were revolutionary and extremely successful. Lotus 79 definitely was one of them. After good try with Lotus 78, its successor took full advantage of aerodynamics and produced significantly more ground effect.

Lotus 79 was built around its predecessor but went through many changes and modifications. Much of the honeycomb used for the chassis was replaced by more conventional sheet aluminium, even larger sidepods were fitted to the car while the rear suspension was also redesigned to allow the air to exit the rear more cleanly.

The new car was powered by Ford Cosworth engine, the fuel tank became a single cell located behind the driver what helped in moving the center of gravity to the middle of the car. Additionally, the Lotus 79 was the first F1 car to be designed using wind tunnel and computer design aids. In fact, it was the first car in Formula 1 to use computers to analyze it in the pits during race weekends.

Lotus 79 was tested for the first time late in 1977 and before the season went through many modifications. However, it wasn’t fully prepared for the start of 1978 campaign. However, when it was seen at the racetrack for the first time, the new car immediately was named ’The Black Beauty’, after its famous and legendary John Player Special black and gold livery. This car is still considered as probably the most elegant in the history of motorsport.

The American driver secured 1978 Formula 1 title by finishing 6th in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza but that race was marked with Peterson crash at the start of the race. Ronnie’s car hit the guardrail head-on after the multiple incidents. Both his legs were broken and although his injuries were not thought to be life-threatening he died of post-operation complications. Peterson posthumously finished the season as a runner-up.

Andretti didn’t win any of the remaining three races in 1978, while Jean-Pierre Jarier, who replaced Peterson, wasn’t capable of pulling out the maximum from the car that was superior that season. Lotus finished the campaign with two trophies after winning the Constructors’ Championship, beating his nearest rival Ferrari by 28 points.

However, the Lotus 79 has a special place in the history of Formula 1, being the first F1 car to take full advantage of ground effects. The underbody aerodynamics, one of Chapman’s many great innovations still plays a vital role in the racing car design although the full ground effect cars are no longer eligible.

Tyrell P34 (bleacherreport.com):
If the Alfa [158/159] was the first of its kind with regard to dominant F1 cars, the Tyrell takes the crown as the first of the short-lived six-wheelers.

Unlike some other variants that would appear through the years, the Tyrell kept its two, huge rear tyres as normal but replaced the regular fronts with four smaller ones.

The theory here was that these would increase the total contact patch at the front of the cars, thereby increasing grip, as well as reducing the lift created by standard front wheels.

It proved initially successful with drivers Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler recording a one-two finish at the 1976 Swedish, but the 1977 car struggled and the concept was dropped for '78.

Nevertheless, the car has a special place in the pantheon of historic race cars.

[S griffin]

One was an upgrade of a pioneering force, the other was a pioneering force. Both deserve their place in history. For me the Lotus 79 gets it, it was much more successful, although interestingly both cars had a bad second year