Patrick Tambay

Patrick Tambay

Nation:	France
Automobile / Formula 1 world championship
First start:	Great Britain Grand Prix 1977
Last start:	1986 Australian Grand Prix
Constructors
1977  Theodore  • 1978–1979  McLaren  • 1981  Theodore  • 1981  Ligier  • 1982–1983  Ferrari  • 1984–1985  Renault  • 1986  Haas
statistics
World Cup balance:	World Cup fourth ( 1983 )
Starts Victories Poles SR 114 2 5 2
World Cup points :	103
Podiums :	11
Leadership laps :	199 over 986 km

Patrick Tambay (born June 25, 1949 in Paris ) is a former French racing driver . He took u. a. between 1977 and 1986 participated in over 100 Grand Prix races for the Formula 1 world championship. Tambay's son Adrien is also a racing driver.

Niki Lauda and Patrick Tambay during training for the 1985 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring

Career

Tambay drove his first Formula 1 race in 1977 at Silverstone and his last in 1986 in Adelaide . He won two of 114 races, took pole position five times and achieved a total of 103 World Championship points. He worked as a driver for McLaren , Ligier , Theodore , Ferrari , Renault and Lola .

The charming and cosmopolitan Frenchman with the movie star look was one of the most popular appearances in Formula 1 in the early 1980s. As a former ski racer and graduate of the Winfield Racing School on the Circuit Paul Ricard in 1971, he made his way through the French junior formulas to the Formula 2 European Championship , in which he was always at the top from 1974 to 1976 , the title however missed. After a short and very successful run in the North American Can-Am series with Carl Haas' team , where he won six of seven races, he made his Grand Prix debut with the Theodore team at the 1977 British Grand Prix in Silverstone Ensign constructed by Mo Nunn . Patrick Tambay impressed in his first Formula 1 season with seventh place on the grid in Austria and five championship points, so that McLaren signed him for 1978. The new M26 was hardly competitive, however, so that only eight World Championship points had been achieved by the end of the season. In the following season, Tambay was contractually forbidden to conduct test drives in advance, whereupon he did not score a championship point. So disappointed, he moved back to Can-Am for 1980, where he was able to celebrate his second title after 1977.

The successes in North America enabled him to regain a foothold in Formula 1 just a year later. In 1981 he was hired by the Hong Kong Chinese Teddy Yip's Theodore team. With the mediocre monoposto, he finished sixth in the debut race in Long Beach and seventh in the Monaco Grand Prix . During the season he switched to the more successful Ligier- Talbot team, where a place had become vacant after the resignation of Jean-Pierre Jabouille . However, Tambay did not finish in a single race in the new car and had a serious accident at the last Grand Prix of the season in Las Vegas .

Tambay in the Renault RE50 at the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix

1982 was a very eventful year for Patrick Tambay. Initially a substitute for the injured Marc Surer at Arrows , there was a driver strike at the first race of the new season in Kyalami because of the new super licenses. Disgusted by the political quarrels, Patrick Tambay then withdrew again from Formula 1, but was hired by Ferrari as a substitute driver after Gilles Villeneuve's fatal accident at the Belgian Grand Prix in Zolder . The two following seasons with Ferrari were the most successful of his Formula 1 career. At the Grand Prix of Germany in Hockenheim he won his first Grand Prix, at the same time he was by the accident of Didier Pironi Team leader. 25 World Championship points were enough for seventh place overall this year. In addition, Tambay contributed with his points to win the constructors championship by Ferrari. In the 1983 season he won the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola , was on pole position four times and was fourth with 40 points in the final. Tambay also had a share in Ferrari's renewed victory in the constructors' championship.

However, since he could not realize his World Cup chances, he was replaced by Ferrari for 1984 by Michele Alboreto . He signed on with the Renault team and took pole position at the French Grand Prix in Dijon in 1984 and finished second (it was the only time he was able to finish a race from pole). In 1985 he finished third on the podium twice, but at the end of 1985 Renault withdrew from Formula 1. He built on his old relationship with Carl Haas, who had meanwhile come to Formula 1 with the Beatrice Lola team, and was signed by him for 1986 . The car was never really competitive and Tambay only scored two championship points despite some good qualifying performances. At the end of the year the team was sold to Bernie Ecclestone . Patrick Tambay's Formula 1 career ended with that.

In 1989 he started in the sports car world championship on TWR - Jaguar and finished fourth in Le Mans . In addition, he contested the Dakar Rally and ice races in France , he also worked as a TV commentator and at short notice he was also seen as a team member of the Larrousse team.

Tambay now suffers from Parkinson's disease .

statistics

Statistics in the automobile / Formula 1 world championship

These statistics include all participations of the driver in the Formula 1 World Championship , which until 1980 was known as the Automobile World Championship.

Grand Prix victories

1982 German Grand Prix ( Hockenheim )

1983 San Marino Grand Prix ( Imola )

Single results

season	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th
1977
									DNQ	DNF	6th	DNF	5 *	DNF	DNQ	5	DNF
1978
	6th	DNF	DNF	12 *	7th		DNF	4th	9	6th	DNF	DNF	9	5	6th	8th
1979
	DNF	DNF	10	DNF	13	DNQ	DNQ	10	7 *	DNF	10	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF
1981
	6th	10	DNF	11	DNQ	7th	13	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF
1982
									8th	3	4th	1	4th	DNS	2	DNS
1983
	5	DNF	4th	1	4th	2	DNF	3	3	DNF	DNF	2	4th	DNF	DNF
1984
	5 *	DNF	7th	DNF	2	DNF	DNS	DNF	DNF	8th*	5	DNF	6th	DNF	DNF	7th
1985
	5	3	3	DNF	7th	DNF	6th	DNF	DNF	10 *	DNF	7th	DNF	12		DNF
1986
	DNF	8th	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNS		DNF	DNF	8th	7th	5	DNF	NC	DNF	NC

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	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1976	Renault Sport	Alpine A442	José Dolhem	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	failure	Cylinder damage
1977	Renault Sport	Alpine A442	Jean-Pierre Jaussaud		failure	Engine failure
1981	Jean Rondeau	Rondeau M379C	Henri Pescarolo		failure	Engine failure
1989	Silk Cut Jaguar	Jaguar XJR9-LM	Jan Lammers	Andrew Gilbert-Scott	Rank 4

Web links

Commons : Patrick Tambay  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Biography (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Gary Anderson answers ..." in: www.motorsport-total.com - November 23, 2016. Accessed November 24, 2016