Ken Tyrrell once said that, contrary to what had been written about him, he had no special talent for spotting good racing drivers. “If they’re quick, they’re good,” he growled. So was that all there was to it? Lap times? Whatever it was, he ended up employing the likes of Sir Jackie Stewart, Jody Scheckter, Ronnie Peterson, Patrick Depailler, and Michele Alboreto.
Take Alboreto, for instance. He had just become the 1980 European Formula 3 Champion, when one of Ken’s spies pointed out the courteous Italian. The lad seemed promising, so Ken offered him three 1981 races in Tyrrell’s number two car alongside Eddie Cheever. Michele qualified his Tyrrell 010-Ford 17th in the first race at Imola and that was good enough for Ken. He signed Alboreto to a three-year contract, although his cars, still powered by normally aspirated Ford Cosworth engines, were struggling against their turbocharged brethren. Even Ferrari, which had not always been quick to adopt new developments in the past, fielded a turbo for the first time in 1981, while Michele was to persevere with the venerable Cosworth for another two seasons.
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