PATRICK TAMBAY

1949-2022

Two-time Grand Prix winner Patrick Tambay has died at 73, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was one talented part of the golden generation of French drivers that made it to the very top, alongside contemporaries such as René Arnoux, Jean-pierre Jabouille, Jacques Laffite, Alain Prost and Didier Pironi, Grand Prix victors all.

Yet it wasn’t for his time with Renault that Tambay is best known, but Ferrari. Both wins were scored for the Prancing Horse, in 1982 and 1983, having replaced his late, great friend Gilles Villeneuve. His first came at Hockenheim, the Frenchman showing remarkable character to win after witnessing his teammate suffer a near-identical crash to that which had killed Villeneuve a few months earlier.

Tambay’s technical prowess and natural ability helped him quickly acclimatise to the turbocharged Ferrari, claiming a podium in only his second outing and a win two races later. Being runner-up at Monza behind future teammate Arnoux cemented his reputation with the tifosi, but a year later he went one better and did what every Ferrari driver dreams of doing when he won in Italy, claiming the San Marino Grand Prix. After being ruthlessly dropped for Michele Alboreto at the end of 1983, the inevitable Renault drive yielded a handful of podium finishes across two seasons before he came full circle to end where his career at the top had started: with Carl Haas. It also returned Tambay to America, where he had studied. Tambay had dominated Can-am for Haas, having been all but unbeatable as a replacement for the injured Brian Redman in 1977. He then repeated the feat in 1980.

The chances in truly competitive machinery were not forthcoming, but for the tragic circumstances that sent him to Maranello. Yet his talent was not forgotten, and Tom Walkinshaw Racing tempted him back to Le Mans in a Jaguar XJR-9, 12 years after his debut at the 24 Hours in an Alpine with Jabouille. Fourth in 1989 was his best and only finish in his country’s greatest race. JP