The day Uncle Ken bowed out of F1

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It was on this day in 1997 that news emerged that Ken Tyrrell was to depart Formula 1 after selling his eponymous race team.

Tyrrell Racing had been a fixture of the world championship for over three decades. It made its maiden appearance at the 1966 German Grand Prix with drivers Jacky Ickx and Hubert Hahne and embarked on its first full season in 1968. Jackie Stewart spearheaded the campaign and claimed three wins that year.

Stewart stayed with the team until 1973. Together they won the drivers and constructors championships in 1971, with Stewart winning six of the 11 races that year. Stewart went on to win two more titles. The team was runner-up in the following two seasons, and third in 1974 and 1976.

The team went into decline after that. Its low point came in 1984 when they were disqualified after having been deemed to have dodged rules about their car's minimum weight.

Other drivers to follow Stewart at Tyrrell included Jody Scheckter, Ronnie Peterson, Didier Pironi, Eddie Cheever, Michele Alboreto and Danny Sullivan. Martin Brundle was a Tyrrell driver between 1984 and 1986. Others in the Tyrrell team colours included Jonathan Palmer, Jean Alesi, Mika Salo, Mark Blundell and Jos Verstappen.

However by the end of 1997 Ken Tyrrell himself decided it was time to call it a day. The Tyrrell F1 team was sold to British American Tobacco and Craig Pollock to create British American Racing, with the news breaking on December 2. Tyrrell called it "the most difficult decision I've ever had to take."

However, it's legacy was upheld by those who took on Tyrrell's competitive spirit. From BAR, the team evolved into Honda, then Brawn, winning the world championship with Jenson Button in 2009 before it settled on its current iteration as the mighty Mercedes squad.

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.