she got the chance to redeem herself, when she accepted a drive with tyrrell racing for her home grand prix. however, the ongoing fisa–foca war within f1, lead to the 1981 south african grand prix being a non-championship race, which nevertheless still attracted a strong field. wilson qualified 16th, moved through the field to 6th before spinning out her tyrrell 010, with gearbox troubles. but, she had managed to impress ken tyrrell, and was offered further drives. due to lack of sponsorship and political situation, she was unable to take up tyrrell's offer and the drive went to ricardo zunino, and then michele alboreto. the remainder of the season consisted of outing in formula atlantic and sportscars.