F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Former Ferrari and McLaren driver Patrick Tambay dies at 73

French news agency AFP has reported that former Formula 1 driver and two-time Grand Prix winner Patrick Tambay has passed away at the age of 73.

Born on June 25 1949 in Paris and educated in France and in the United States, Tambay made 114 Grand Prix starts during his time in F1.

He made his bow at the 1977 British Grand Prix with a Theodore Racing Ensign and his career in F1 concluded in 1986 at the Australian Grand Prix with Team Haas.

He appeared on the podium on 11 occasions, and took two wins while driving for Ferrari after replacing the late Gilles Villeneuve mid-season in 1982.

Tambay claimed a podium finish in only his second race with the Scuderia at Brands Hatch, and took his maiden victory at the German Grand Prix just weeks later, during which team-mate Didier Pironi was seriously injured.

He would later clinch a memorable second-place at Monza in the final European race of the 1982 season, and took another race win the following season in San Marino which saw him finish the season in a career high P4.

©TheCahierArchive

As well as Ferrari, Tambay also spent two years racing for McLaren in 1978 and 1979, and for Equipe Renault Elf in 1984 and 1984.

It was support from Elf that had originally boosted him to the top of motorsport, after winning the celebrated Volant Elf racing school prize at Paul Ricard.

In addition to his time in F1, Tambay raced in sportscars, including four entries and one finish in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Tambay won two titles in the Can-Am series in 1977 and 1980 with Carl A Haas Racing, and later competed regularly in the Paris-Dakar, twice finishing in the top three.

After retiring from full-time racing, he worked as a commentator for French television and served as the deputy mayor of Le Cannet, a suburb of Cannes.

He was still active as recently as 2006 when he took part in two events of the Grand Prix Masters series.

Tambay was the godfather to 1997 Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, and his own son Adrien raced in the DTM championship between 2012 and 2016.

More recently, Tambay had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a progressive disorder that affects the nervous system, as well as diabetes which limited his public appearances in his later years.

Widely admired as one of the most charming and charismatic racers of the late 70s and early 80s, Tambay was an old school gentleman from F1's golden age and will be much missed by all who knew and loved him.

F1i sends its sincere and heart-felt condolences to Patrick's son Adrien and to his family and friends at this sad time.

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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.