Tyrrell Racing
By 1973 he was being slated to replace his fellow Scot Jackie Stewart at Tyrrell Racing in Formula One. A promising career was ended when he died of unsurvivable injuries in an accident during qualifying for the F2 Trophee D'Europe race at Rouen when a front tyre failed at the notorious "Six Freres" corner, Birrell's Chevron B25 being thrown into a poorly secured crash barrier. The rail was lifted by the force of the crash, the Chevron passed beneath it, and Birrell died from internal injuries.