December 4, 2022, 11:05 AM
December 4, 2022, 11:05 AM
Former French Formula 1 driver Patrick Tambay has died at the age of 73 after suffering a long illness, family sources told AFP this Sunday.
Patrick Tambay won two Grand Prix, one in 1982 and another in 1983 at the wheel of a Ferrari. Throughout his career, he has also raced for the McLaren and Renault teams.. In his record there are also two North American CanAm championships (1977 and 1980).
For many years, he had suffered from Parkinson’s disease.
Born in Paris on June 25, 1949, Patrick Tambay debuted in F1 in 1977 with the Theodore team, before joining McLaren in 1978 and Ferrari in 1982.
Promoted in the Italian team after the death of Canadian Gilles Villeneuve, he joined his compatriot Didier Pironiwhich would also suffer another serious accident a few weeks later, during qualifying for the German Grand Prix.
At that Grand Prix, Tambay claimed victory, getting a stranded Scuderia back on track. In that season he finished 7th in the world championship.
He won a Grand Prix again a year later at Imola, finishing 4th in the championship but leaving Ferrari at the end of the season. to join Renault, a team in which he did not achieve any victory but did obtain a ‘pole position’.
During his two seasons at the French team, it did not go beyond a discreet 11th place in the championship in 1984 and 12th in 1985.
Regarded as a “gentlemanly driver”, Tambay participated four times in the 24 hours of Le Mans, his best participation being a 4th place with Jaguar in 1989. He also took part in the Paris-Dakar rally, obtaining third place on two occasions (1988 and 1989).
