Patrick Depailler

Patrick Depailler

Nation:	France
Automobile world championship
First start:	1972 French Grand Prix
Last start:	Great Britain Grand Prix 1980
Constructors
1972, 1974–1978  Tyrrell  • 1979  Ligier  • 1980  Alfa Romeo
statistics
World Cup balance:	World Cup fourth ( 1976 )
Starts Victories Poles SR 95 2 1 4th
World Cup points :	141
Podiums :	19th
Leadership laps :	164 over 613.6 km

Patrick André Eugène Joseph Depailler (born August 9, 1944 in Clermont-Ferrand , † August 1, 1980 in Hockenheim ) was a French racing driver and Formula 1 driver . His career in the top motorsport class began in 1972. In 1980 he had a fatal accident during test drives at the Hockenheimring .

Career

Monopostosport

Patrick Depailler at the Nürburgring in 1970 ...

... and in the Tyrrell P34 at the 1976 Dutch Grand Prix

Coming from French Formula 2 , Depailler made his Formula 1 debut on a Tyrrell on July 2, 1972 at the French Grand Prix in Clermont-Ferrand . He was scheduled for 1974 with the British team alongside François Cevert as the successor to three-time world champion Jackie Stewart , but injured his leg while privately riding motocross and dropped out at short notice. In his place, the South African Jody Scheckter was signed . Due to Cevert's fatal accident at the US Grand Prix in Watkins Glen in 1973 , Depailler unexpectedly got his regular seat. He remained loyal to the Tyrrell team for the next five years. The Frenchman achieved numerous top positions in the races and developed into an excellent test driver with a high level of technical expertise.

In the 1976 season he not only finished second five times, he also came close to a Grand Prix victory for the first time at the Japanese Grand Prix in Fuji , but had to admit defeat to the American Mario Andretti in the Lotus . His team-mate Scheckter, meanwhile, said goodbye to Tyrrell in third place. In that season, the legendary Tyrrell P34 was used, in whose development Depailler played a key role. However, the concept of this racing car could not prevail. After an eventful season in 1977 alongside Sweden's Ronnie Peterson , the Frenchman celebrated his first victory in 1978 at the Monaco Grand Prix and switched to the French Ligier team at the end of the season .

There he stood in the shadow of his new team-mate Jacques Laffite , who drove for the world title with two victories at the start of the season. Sharp rivalry characterized the relationship between the two French. Meanwhile, Depailler celebrated his second (and last) victory at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jarama . On Pentecost Sunday 1979 , he fell while kite flying near his hometown and suffered numerous fractures in both legs. After a few operations and hours of therapy, he was able to make his comeback at Alfa Romeo in January 1980 . The Italian team had hired him not least because of his skills as a test pilot. In fact, the car made amazing progress in terms of speed, regular top 10 placements in qualifying were often negated by defects.

Death in Hockenheim

However, Depailler could no longer reap the fruits of his labor. On August 1, 1980, he had a fatal accident during test drives in Hockenheim in the east curve. The cause of the accident was never fully clarified. Grinding marks on the asphalt at the entrance to the curve indicated a material breakage, such as a wishbone or one of the aerodynamic "aprons". The east curve was to be secured with additional safety fences for the German Grand Prix on August 10th . At the time of the accident, however, these safety fences were still rolled up behind the guard rails.

statistics

Formula 3 and Formula 2

• 1971: French Formula 3 champion
• 1974 : Formula 2 European Champion

Statistics in the automobile world championship

Grand Prix victories

1978 Monaco Grand Prix ( Monte Carlo )

1979 Spanish Grand Prix ( Jarama )

general overview

season	team	chassis	engine	run	Victories	Second	Third	Poles	nice Round	Points	WM-Pos.
1972	Eleven Team Tyrrell	Tyrrell 004	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	24.
1974	Eleven Team Tyrrell	Tyrrell 005/006/  007	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	15th	-	1	-	1	1	14th	9.
1975	Eleven Team Tyrrell	Tyrrell 007	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	14th	-	-	1	-	1	12	9.
1976	Eleven Team Tyrrell	Tyrrell 007 /  P34	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	16	-	5	2	-	1	39	4th
1977	Eleven Team Tyrrell	Tyrrell P34	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	17th	-	1	2	-	-	20th	9.
1978	Eleven Team Tyrrell	Tyrrell 008	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	16	1	2	2	-	-	34	5.
1979	Ligier Gitanes	Ligier JS11	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	7th	1	1	-	-	1	22 (20)	6th
1980	Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 179	Alfa Romeo 3.0 V12	8th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
total				95	2	10	7th	1	4th	141

Single results

season	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th
1972
						20th						7th
1974
	6th	8th	4th	8th	DNF	9	2	6th	8th	DNF	DNF	DNF	11	5	6th
1975
	5	DNF	3	DNF	5	4th	12	9	6th	9	9	11	7th	DNF
1976
	2	9	3	DNF	DNF	3	2	2	DNF	DNF	DNF	7th	6th	2	DNF	2
1977
	DNF	DNF	3	4th	DNF	DNF	8th	4th	DNF	DNF	DNF	13	DNF	DNF	14th	2	3
1978
	3	DNF	2	3	1	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	4th	DNF	2	DNF	11	DNF	5
1979
	4th	2	DNF	5	1	DNF	(5)	INJ	INJ	INJ	INJ	INJ	INJ	INJ	INJ
1980
	DNF	DNF	NC	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	†	†	†	†	†	†

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1967	Ecurie Calberson	Alpine A210	Gérard Larrousse	failure	Gearbox damage
1968	Ecurie Savin-Calberson	Alpine A220	Mauro Bianchi	failure	accident
1969	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Alpine A220	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	failure	drive shaft
1970	Equipe Matra-Simca	Matra-Simca MS660	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	failure	Engine failure
1971	Team Ligier	Ligier JS3	Guy Ligier	not classified
1973	Equipe Matra-Simca Shell	Matra-Simca MS670B	Bob Wollek	failure	Oil pump
1977	Renault Sport	Alpine A442	Jacques Laffite	failure	Engine failure
1978	Renault Sport	Alpine A443	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	failure	Engine failure

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th
1967	Ecurie Calberson Alpine	Alpine A210	DAY	SEB	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	HOK	MUG	BRH	CCE	ZEL	OVI	ONLY
									DNF							DNF
1968	Alpine Ecurie Calberson	Alpine A211 Alpine A220	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	ONLY	SPA	WAT	ZEL	LEM
						3		9				DNF
1969	Alpine	Alpine A220	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	WAT	ZEL
						6th				DNF
1970	Matra	Matra MS660	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	WAT	ZEL
										DNF
1971	Ligier	Ligier JS3	BUA	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
											DNF
1973	Matra	Matra MS670	DAY	VAL	DIJ	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
										DNF
1974	Alpine	Alpine A441	MON	SPA	ONLY	IMO	LEM	ZEL	WAT	LEC	BRH	KYA
					10
1975	Renault Sport	Alpine A442	DAY	MUG	DIJ	MON	SPA	BY	ONLY	ZEL	WAT
										DNF	DNF
1976	Renault Sport	Alpine A442	MUG	VAL	ONLY	MON	SIL	IMO	ONLY	ZEL	BY	WAT	MOS	DIJ	DIJ	SAL
					DNF						DNF		4th		2
1978	Renault Sport	Alpine A443	DAY	SEB	MUG	VALLEY	DIJ	SIL	ONLY	LEM	MIS	DAY	WAT	VAL	ROD
										DNF

See also

• List of fatally injured Formula 1 drivers

literature

• Steve Small: Grand Prix Who's Who, 3rd Edition . Travel Publishing, London 2000, ISBN 1-902007-46-8

Web links

Commons : Patrick Depailler  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Patrick Depailler on f1racing.ch

Individual evidence

1. ^ Patrick Depailler at Motorsport Memorial