The Tyrrell DG016 was a
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
racing car designed by
Maurice Philippe
Maurice Philippe (30 April 1932 – 5 June 1989), also known as Maurice Phillippe, was a British aircraft and Formula One car designer.
Philippe designed his first car in 1955, called the MPS (Maurice Philippe Special), while employed developin ...
and
Brian Lisles and raced by
Tyrrell Racing
The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell (1924–2001) which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the ...
in the
1987 FIA Formula One World Championship
The 1987 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 41st season of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1987 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1987 Formula One World Cha ...
. It was powered by a customer
Cosworth DFZ
The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. The name is an abbreviation of ''Double Four Valve'', the engine being a V8 development of the earlier four-cylinder FVA, which had fo ...
engine and driven by
Jonathan Palmer
Jonathan Charles Palmer (born 7 November 1956) is a British businessman and former Formula One racing driver. Before opting for a career in motor racing, Palmer trained as a physician at London's Guys Hospital. He also worked as a junior phys ...
and
Philippe Streiff
Philippe Streiff (26 June 1955 – 23 December 2022) was a French racing driver. He participated in 55 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 21 October 1984. He achieved one podium, and scored a total of 11 championship points.
A pre-season tes ...
. The "DG" in the car's name was a reference to the team's major sponsor,
Data General
Data General Corporation was one of the first minicomputer firms of the late 1960s. Three of the four founders were former employees of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC).
Their first product, 1969's Data General Nova, was a 16-bit minicompute ...
.
The DG016 was raced in two different championships: for 1987 only there was the
Colin Chapman
Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman (19 May 1928 – 16 December 1982) was an English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of Lotus Cars.
In 1952 he founded the sports car company Lotus Cars. Chapman ...
Trophy for constructors of cars equipped with
naturally aspirated engines. Tyrrell were the only team to run two cars in this category for the entire season and thus easily won this championship, finishing over 100 points ahead of
Larrousse
Larrousse Formula One was a motorsports racing team founded in 1987 by Didier Calmels and former racer Gérard Larrousse, originally under the name Larrousse & Calmels. It was based in Antony, in the southern suburbs of Paris. It was renamed La ...
-Calmels in second, while Palmer and Streiff finished first and second respectively in the equivalent championship for drivers, the
Jim Clark Cup.
The car was also reasonably successful in the main Constructors' Championship, with Palmer and Streiff managing five points finishes between them: Palmer finished fifth in
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
and Streiff sixth in his home race in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
; a large attrition rate in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
enabled Streiff to finish fourth and Palmer fifth; and Palmer again benefited from attrition to finish fourth in
Australia. Palmer came 11th in the main Drivers' Championship with 7 points while Streiff came 15th with 4; the combined 11 points gave Tyrrell sixth in the Constructors' Championship, ahead of such
turbo
In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...
-powered teams as
Arrows and
Brabham.
The DG016's airbox/engine cover, which connected the top of the roll hoop to the rear end of the bodywork in a continuous curve, was a contrasting design to those of the other naturally-aspirated engine teams of 1987.
AGS initially mounted a large air scoop on top of their car's engine cover before replacing it with a smaller inlet, while
March
March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March ...
and
Larrousse
Larrousse Formula One was a motorsports racing team founded in 1987 by Didier Calmels and former racer Gérard Larrousse, originally under the name Larrousse & Calmels. It was based in Antony, in the southern suburbs of Paris. It was renamed La ...
simply removed their engine covers entirely. When F1 mandated naturally-aspirated engines for 1989, the majority of teams adopted a similar design to the DG016.
The DG016 was replaced for by the
Tyrrell 017
The Tyrrell 017 was a Formula One racing car designed by Maurice Philippe and Brian Lisles. It was built and raced by Tyrrell Racing in the season and also for the first race of the season. It used a customer Cosworth DFZ V8 engine as had its p ...
.
Complete Formula One results
(
key)
Colin Chapman Trophy (for constructors of cars equipped with naturally aspirated engines)
(
key)
References
Tyrrell 016
{{F1-stub