Tyrrell P34 - the Only Six Wheeled Car to Win F1 Grand Prix

Originally published November 2015. Last updated July 2026: added specs table, six-wheel comparison, race summary, FAQ, and related reading.

The Tyrrell P34 (Project 34) is the only six-wheeled car ever to win a Formula 1 World Championship Grand Prix. Designed by Derek Gardner for Elf Team Tyrrell, it used four 10-inch (254 mm) front wheels and two standard rears in 1976 and 1977. Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler finished 1–2 at the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp — still the only F1 victory by a six-wheeler.

Across 30 Grands Prix the P34 scored 1 win, 14 podiums, 1 pole, and 3 fastest laps. Goodyear’s limited development of the bespoke front tyres ended the project after 1977; F1 later capped cars at four wheels. The sections below cover the engineering idea, full race story, why Tyrrell abandoned it, and its second life in historic racing.

Jody Scheckter, 1976 Swedish Grand Prix

Tyrrell P34 at a glance

The P34 was Tyrrell’s answer to a mid-1970s grid where most rivals shared the same Cosworth DFV engine and Hewland gearbox. Gardner’s six-wheel layout aimed to cut front-end drag and increase grip without widening the front wing.

Who designed the Tyrrell P34?

Derek Gardner designed the Tyrrell P34 for Ken Tyrrell’s team. Gardner joined Tyrrell in 1970 after working on Matra’s four-wheel-drive F1 systems; Jackie Stewart won the 1971 drivers’ title and Tyrrell took the constructors’ championship with Gardner’s cars. Gardner began sketching the six-wheel concept in 1973, exploiting a rules loophole that only limited the number of tyres, not wheels.

Read more about the team founder in our profile of Ken Tyrrell and Stewart’s title-winning era in Tyrrell 003 and Jackie Stewart.

Why did Tyrrell use four small front wheels?

Four 10-inch front wheels were meant to increase grip and cut drag. Smaller tyres tucked inside the body width reduced lift at the front, let Gardner simplify the front wing, and increased the total front contact patch. Gardner estimated the aero gain was worth roughly 40 horsepower compared with a conventional four-wheel layout.

How were the front wheels steered?

The P34 steered the front axle directly and used a bell-crank linkage for the second pair of front wheels. Braking used a triple master-cylinder system — one circuit per axle — because locking on either front axle pair would effectively shorten or lengthen the car’s wheelbase.

March, Williams, and Ferrari also tried six wheels

While the Tyrrell P34 is the most widely known six-wheeled F1 car, it was not the only one. March Engineering, Williams, and Scuderia Ferrari teams also built experimental six-wheeled F1 chassis, but all of these had four wheels at the back rather than at the front like the P34. The Williams FW07D and FW08B, and the March 2-4-0 had tandem rear wheels. The Ferrari 312T6 featured four rear wheels on a single axle — similar to how Auto Union increased traction with its Type-D Grand Prix cars in the 1930s.

Despite extensive testing, neither the March, Williams, nor the Ferrari were ever raced. In 1983 the FIA prohibited cars with four driven wheels; Formula 1 later required four as the maximum number of wheels on any car.

Six-wheeled F1 cars compared

Only Tyrrell raced and won with a six-wheeler. Every other six-wheel F1 project used four wheels at the rear — a different engineering goal (drag reduction and, in Williams’ case, four-wheel drive).

The crowd loved the first ever Formula 1 six-wheeler

The Cosworth-powered Tyrrell P34 debuted at the 1976 Spanish Grand Prix and immediately became the star of Formula One. No one had seen a six-wheeled Grand Prix car before; Tyrrell and its sponsors enjoyed global magazine coverage.

Six-wheeler was difficult to drive

Despite its potential, the car was hard to drive. It was heavier than a conventional F1 car — double steering gear and four front tyres added mass — and handling felt unfamiliar. Understeer could still appear in some conditions. The special Goodyear tyres developed for the P34 never received the same development effort as standard race rubber.

1976 season: Monaco podium and the Swedish Grand Prix win

The P34’s only Grand Prix win came at Anderstorp in 1976. Scheckter took pole; Depailler started fourth. After Mario Andretti’s Lotus 77 retired from the lead on lap 46, the two Tyrrells finished 1–2 with a 19.7-second gap to Niki Lauda’s Ferrari — the only 1–2 by a six-wheel F1 car.

Earlier that year the car ran at the Spanish Grand Prix (debut), Belgian Grand Prix, and Monaco, where Tyrrell scored a double podium behind Lauda. Both Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler raced against James Hunt and Niki Lauda in the famous 1976 title fight covered in our Hunt–Lauda rivalry article and the film Rush.

Tyrrell P34 in the movie Rush

Video: Patrick Depailler On-Board | Tyrrell-Cosworth P34 at Monaco

Fantastic 1–2 victory at Anderstorp

After Monaco’s podium, the first and only win came at the Swedish Grand Prix at the Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp. Scheckter and Depailler finished first and second, and to date Scheckter is the only driver ever to win in a six-wheeled car.

Jody Scheckter took pole, with Depailler qualified in fourth. It was Mario Andretti in the Lotus 77 who led for the bigger part of the race. He had been penalized sixty seconds for jumping start, so he wanted to build a big lead ahead of the two Tyrrells. In lap 46, the engine failed and Andretti retired, so Scheckter and Depailler had a clear way to the victory. They went on to finish first and second with a 19.7s gap while Niki Lauda finished third.

Two six-wheelers in front of all others — fantastic victory at the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix

Fastest laps at the Nürburgring and Mosport Park

The 1976 French Grand Prix at the Circuit Paul Ricard was also successful, with Depailler finishing second and Scheckter sixth. At Brands Hatch, the South African took the podium, while Depailler retired with engine problems. Scheckter crossed the finish line behind Hunt and Lauda, but Hunt was disqualified so Scheckter was promoted to second.

The next race at Nürburgring Nordschleife was marked by near fatal accident of Niki Lauda. James Hunt won ahead of Jody Scheckter who made the fastest lap time around the famous circuit. It was the last F1 visit to Nordschleife.

Austrian Grand Prix, Dutch Grand Prix, and Italian Grand Prix followed without podiums, then in the last three races, Tyrrell P34 scored three podiums. Scheckter was second at Watkins Glen (US Grand Prix), Depailler was second at Mosport Park (Canadian GP) and Fuji Speedway (Japanese GP). Depailler added the fastest lap time to his podium finish at Mosport Park.

Jody Scheckter 1976 im Tyrrell-Ford P 34 in der Südkehre des Nürburgrings

Despite good results, Scheckter said the car was ‘a piece of junk’

At the end of the season, Jody Scheckter finished third in the championship behind James Hunt and Niki Lauda. Scheckter scored victory in Sweden and four more podiums, while Depailler finished fourth in the standings with seven podiums. Elf Team Tyrrell finished third in the championship standings, behind Ferrari and McLaren.

Interestingly, Patrick Depailler was always a big fan of the six wheel concept and Jody Scheckter was always very critical of it. Despite one victory and overall good result, he said that Tyrrell P34 was ‘a piece of junk!’.

1977 season and why Tyrrell abandoned the P34

Tyrrell dropped the P34 after 1977 because Goodyear stopped developing the 10-inch front tyres and the car could not be balanced front-to-rear. Ronnie Peterson replaced Scheckter; Depailler scored three more podiums but reliability suffered — Peterson retired ten times in 17 races.

During the 1977 season, the P34 was modified but the problems with tires and handling were still present. Depailler scored three podium finishes and finished 8th in the classification, while Peterson’s best result was third place at the Belgian Grand Prix and he finished 14th at the end of the season. Elf Team Tyrrell finished sixth.

Season opening was bad with double retirements in Brazil and Argentina. At the 1977 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami, remembered by the horror accident in which the driver Tom Pryce and one marshal were killed, Depailler stole the third place from James Hunt in the closing laps. Peterson retired one more time. United States Grand Prix at Long Beach was also successful for Tyrrell’s leading driver, taking fourth place. Peterson retired fourth time in a row. During the 1977 season, Peterson recorded ten retirements in 17 races, while Depailler didn’t finish nine races.

Jody Scheckter Dances with the 6-wheel Tyrrell P34

Peterson and the tragedy at Fuji for closure of the P34 story

Peterson took his only podium at Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, taking third place after Jody Scheckter retired in closing laps. The last memorable race for Peterson and Tyrrell P34 was the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. Although he finished just 16th, Peterson took the fastest lap prize. In the last race of the season at Fuji Speedway, Peterson participated in a spectacular crash with Gilles Villeneuve in which a marshal and a photographer were killed by debris.

Patrick had a much better closure of the P34 story, with two podiums in last two races, at Mosport Park and Fuji. At the Canadian Grand Prix, Depailler survived dramatic last laps and finished second, behind the former team-mate Jody Scheckter who was driving for Wolf. At the Japanese Grand Prix, Patrick caught the third place and added one more podium to the account of the unusual F1 car.

Even though the car was still competitive, neither Ken Tyrrell as team owner nor Derek Gardner as designer could figure out what direction to take in order to further develop this car. The weight problem was unsolvable, and widening the front track in order to gain more stability affected the aerodynamics. So, for the 1978 season, the P34 was abandoned and Tyrrell returned to more conventional race cars. The P34 was resigned to the history books and the cars were sold to private collectors as historic F1 oddities.

Video: Replacing the Tyrrell P34, Patrick Depailler drove Tyrrell 008 in 1978

One of the most revolutionary F1 cars ever

All said and done, the Tyrrell P34 was, and still is, a crowd favorite and one of the most revolutionary race cars in Formula One. Occasionally, it is mentioned as an unsuccessful car with a strange layout but that is an incorrect representation of the car. It won one race and scored podium finishes, although it lacked the development and was ahead of its time.

Tyrrell P34 was one of the cars which appeared in the 2013 Hollywood blockbuster ‘Rush’, filmed by Ron Howard. P34 six-wheeler was one of the stars of the 1976 F1 season, so naturally it appeared in the movie. The cars used at the movie set were the 1976 Depailler’s chassis P34/2, which has been fully restored in the last few years, and the Martin Stretton’s 1977 chassis P34/6, dressed up in a 1976 body shell.

Second life of P34 chassis number 6

There is an interesting story behind the P34/6, or chassis number 6. During the mid 1990’s, Derek Gardner teamed up with the historic F1 car owner Simon Bull in order to restore and enter a Tyrrell 005 (Jackie Stewart’s car during 1972 & 1973) in the inaugural FIA TGP Cup (Thoroughbred Grand Prix), which later became FIA Historic Formula One Championship. The car was driven by Martin Stretton and won its class. Spurred on by this success, Simon decided to resurrect one more late 70’s Tyrrell F1 car and asked Derek which car would be his choice. Derek naturally chose the P34.

After some research trying to locate a car in good enough condition, the P34 chassis No 6 was purchased from a German car collector and delivered to the UK in late December 1997. This car had been a test car for Ronnie Peterson and Depailler during the 1977 season. The main problem with resurrecting the car was the front tires, but when Derek and Simon approached Avon, who made the tires ran by all the TGP cars, it was found that not only did they have access to the original tire molds, but also two of the Avon engineers had worked on the Goodyear 10″ tire project back in the late seventies. Avon agreed to have a go and Project 34 was back in business.

Tyrrell P34 was restored in the following year and was ready for its first track shakedown at Donington Park in March 1999. The car suffered a few teething problems which weren’t serious, and after a few more outings, it was ready to contest the 1999 championship. The car proved to be extremely competitive, always qualifying on the first and second rows and when it finished, it was in the points. When the car was run at Monza, Derek gave the team the same settings he had given the Tyrrell team back in 1977 just before his departure from the team, and the car worked perfectly, proving once and for all that his concept was not flawed, and that given good rubber, it could have been a true F1 legend.

Martin Stretton and the resurrected P34 had a great year in 1999, and the team won the championship title in 2000. In the following years, the car has participated at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and made regular appearances at many historic events, attracting crowds and the press wherever it appeared.

Tyrrell P34 race results summary

These are the headline numbers from the car’s two World Championship seasons — useful when comparing the P34 with other experimental F1 machinery.

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Related reading

• Tyrrell 003 and Jackie Stewart — the perfect match
• Tyrrell 006 — a story of success and tragedy
• Formula 1 truly misses people like Ken Tyrrell
• Williams FW07D — the six-wheel project that never raced
• Scandinavian Raceway Anderstorp — home of the P34’s only win
• James Hunt and Niki Lauda rivalry (1976 season)

Photos: project34.co.uk, autowp.ru, RaceFans.