The House of Tyrrell - a Formula One TL

Nope, really - it's me (and my thread LMAO).

There were few deaths since 1980

- Patrick Depailler: crashed his Alfa Romeo in private practice, died instantly

- Gilles Villeneuve
- Riccardo Paletti
(one months appart in May and June 1982: that season is hauntingly similar to 1994)

- Elio de Angelis, May 1986

- Ayrton Senna and Ratzenberger infamous back to back deaths at Imola 1994

- poor Jules Bianchi, 2014

See that Lola THL-1 ? it has a truly amazing story.

In 1984 Carl Haas, the supreme king of Indycar (Mario Andretti boss !)... created a F1 team.

And mind you, to design the car he hired three very smart aerodynamicists and engineers.
- Adrian Newey (designed the 1991 - 1997 Williams that won everything)
- Ross Brawn (designed later the 1993 - 1995 Benettons - Schumacher lethal weapon, and later the Ferraris)

This mean the Haas car had, kind of, DNA from all three (later) cars that crushed F1 all the way from 1988 to 2004, clinching a bazillon of victories and, well, every single championship.

Unbelievable. He got the THREE F1 genius working for him ! Try that in the 90's and get instantly bankrupt. But in 1985 they were youngsters and so far less expensive...

Alas, while the car was good (and with such astonishing DNA, it certainly was !!), the team had a lot of troubles and folded out late 1986.

Yep - unrelated.

I love this so far!

It's great to see an F1 timeline that isn't the typical "What if Ayrton Senna survived Imola 1994?". While that's an interesting question in its own right, there's way more to F1 alternate history than just that.

Good to hear Elio de Angelis will survive here. It's easy to forget the extent to which he held his own against Senna and Mansell in the first half of the 1980s, and I do wonder how he would have done had he lived (I could easily see him being a Championship contender in the late 1980s and early 1990s, until he retires some time around 1994-95). Stefan Bellof would perhaps be similar: it's a real shame we never saw much of him .

And now, ladies and gentlemen... the butterfly effect is in motion.


Mosport, Canada, August 11 1985

«Bernie ? » Brabham pilot Marc Surer was surprised to see his boss (and F1 iron hand) in the paddock. But Ecclestone was there. For some time he had grown more and more interested in F1 most dangerous rivals, as far as TV rights went : Le Mans, and Indianapolis, read, Group C and Indycar.

«I like Group C so much. Endurance, Le Mans – I need the different feeling. Do you know next year I itend to drive one of these exciting monster Groupe B rally cars ? I just have an offer from Ford for a test drive of their RS-2200... »

Ecclestone sighed. Rally, Group C, F1 – Surer was really the last of its kind, an era of the 70's that now drawing to a close. There were more and more resistance from the F1 teams to let their pilots risks their lives in Group C, not even mentionning Indycar, but Rally ? WTF ?

Ecclestone had no time to remind Surer he was first and foremost a F1 AND Brabham pilot, becausethe Swiss team mate brought back their Porsche 956 to a very unexpected pit stop. Ecclestone watched as another F1 pilot, damn it – discussed with Surer.

«Something wrong with the car, they are checking it. Maybe it was the goddam corvette that hit me... what, you want to take my place ? Are you sure? I was to make that first relay... ok, ok, if that's really what you want... I'll drive in two or three hours. Take care of yourself, please.»

Manfred Winkelhock and Bernie Ecclestone watched Marc Surer driving the 956 out of the Mosport stands. Winkelhock found himself mostly alone with Ecclestone, and a little embarrassed. His own experience of F1 had not exactly been a happy one, his team was no Brabham by any mean...

And all off sudden, all hell broke lose. There had been an accident. A bad one. Ecclestone and Winkelhock hearts froze in horror.

It was Surer.


August 30, 1985

Enough was enough.

Bernie Ecclestone was furious. François Hesnault, first. His successor Marc Surer – two pilots in the space of six months.

And now, Zakspeed Jonathan Palmer, the good doctor of Formula One. Crashed again in a fucking Porsche 956, down for the count with severe foot and ankles inuries.

Enough was enough.

Bernie Ecclestone took his phone. Tyrrell, first. Then Arrows, then the others. Enough is enough. Formula 1 is already dangerous enough, no way pilots added further risk driving in rally or Le Mans or elsewhere.

Spa Francorchamps. Same day

There was a knock on the motorhome door. Thierry Boutsen, Belgium best F1 pilot since legendary Jacky Ixck, was standing there, his face like a tombstone. Stefan Bellof, Germany best hope since Wolfganf von Trips, wondered what the fuck had happened.

Another accident ?

He reminded all too well the face of his compatriot Manfred Winkelhock at Surer funerals, some days earlier. There were the entire colony of aspiring German and Austrian pilots there: Gerhard Berger, the Winkelhock brothers, Jo Gartner. And Hans Stuck and poor Jochen Mass, the last two survivors of the preceding generation of F1 German pilots that had been so cruelly crippled – the Stommelen and many others, all dead.

By 1983 the young generation of Jo Gartner, Manfred Winkelhock and Stefan Bellof all had driven for the one and only German team, the not-very-bright ATS.
Since then Zakspeed had been hardly better. Bellof, for his part, had struggled with Tyrrell for two years, two years of extreme highs and extreme lows – Monaco 1984 being the most extreme example, third behind Prost and that... how was he called, Senna ? Yes, Senna.

And then Bellof and Brundle entire season send to the trash heap of F1 history, because Ken Tyrrell was, at times, a though con man. Well, Mosley and Ecclestone, once the the Brabham and March bosses, had been F1 con men in their youth, too, when with Tyrrell himself, and McLaren and Frank Williams and Lotus' Collin Chapman, they had created the FOCA and later declared war to that asshole Balestre. A war that had nearly split F1 but was no longer a concern.

Bellof was done with that old crook Ken Tyrrell, really, and he had recently hit gold. If all went well, within three weeks he would meet the living God of Formula One, the one even Ecclestone, Mosley and Balestre feared, the man made of stuff of legends.

ENZO FERRARI. I WILL DRIVE FOR FERRARI, like the grand old Von Trips.

Boutsen, however, interrupted the young german day dreaming.

«Stefan... I need to warn you. Ecclestone has just blown a fuse over Palmer accident, closely following Surer death.

«What...

«He phoned our teams. Mine and yours. Tyrrell and fucking Arrows. Its official: we are forbidden to enter the race, or racing for Group C. Otherwise we can kiss our F1 drives goodbye. You certainly know that Ken Tyrrell is not in a position of strength... and Arrows is even worse, well, they may lost the BMW, and are near bankruptcy.» it was as if Boutsen was chewing nails.

Bellof was aghast. He loved Group C, where Porsche largely avenged Germany past and present F1 miseries. He phoned Ken Tyrrell, and his boss was clear enough – as much as he hated Ecclestone, for once, they were on the same side.

If Bellof put his life at risk running in that fucking Belgium race, he could kiss his F1 drive over. Bellof tried to argue, until Tyrell hit the nail in the head. «Oh, and Enzo Ferrari is on our side too. Don't forget F1 is a small world.»

Damn.

Is Ken tyrrell threatening my future...??!!

...and then he realized. Tyrrell could screw him over his contract, past and future contracts, actually, Ferrari included. Senna had tried screwing Toleman when going to Lotus, and he had been punished.

He gave up.

To the utter shock of Walter Brun, the owner of the Porsche 956 he was to drive in Spa. Bellof actually tried to discuss the matter with Brun, but to his surprise his boss seemed only that furious... although he had to forfait the race,both his pilots away.

There is something bizarre here - something Bellof could hardly explain.


Little did he knew that Walter Brun was willing to enter Formula one sooner rather than later, and as such, he was better not to anger Ecclestone. Unbestknown to Bellof, Walter Brun was in touch with the moribund Alfa Romeo F1 team, soon to close after 7 years of dismal failures.

Brun was also discussing with Giampaollo Pavanello and Carlos Chiti, two collateral victims of Alfa Romeo F1 fiasco. Pavanello Euroracing (once a F3 team) had taken over from Alfa itself and failed miserably. While Chiti engines had been disapointing, to say the least. This did not worried Walter Brun by any mean, he remained convinced Alfa Romeo was his best hope for a F1 ticket in the next future.

So Bellof capitulated, blissfully unaware Tyrrell and Ecclestone shameless bargaining had saved his life and a promising F1 career, too.