1. Patrick Tambay was hired by Ferrari after the death of Gilles Villeneuve in 1982, taking his maiden victory four races later at the German Grand Prix.
13 Facts About Patrick Tambay
1. 2.
In 1984, Patrick Tambay moved to Renault, before ending his Formula One career at Haas Lola, having achieved two wins, five pole positions, two fastest laps and 11 podiums.
3.
Patrick Tambay competed in various forms of motorsport following his departure from Formula One, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the World Sportscar Championship, and the Dakar Rally.
4.
Early in his career, Patrick Tambay was a part of Formula 5000 with the team run by Carl Haas.
5.
In 1977, winning the Can Am championship with Haas, Patrick Tambay debuted in Formula One on a one-off basis with Surtees, driving in only one session at the 1977 French Grand Prix before spending the rest of the season with Theodore.
6.
Patrick Tambay arrived at the track and, when faced with the ongoing turmoil and the possibility of a drivers' strike, he soon left and did not take part in the race.
7.
Patrick Tambay won his first Grand Prix at the German Grand Prix that year after Didier Pironi was injured in qualifying, in his fourth race for Ferrari.
8.
Patrick Tambay then moved from one factory team to the other in Formula One at the time, Renault who had finished 2nd in the 1983 Constructors' Championship and 2nd in the Drivers' with fellow Frenchman Alain Prost.
9.
For what would prove to be his final season in Formula One, Patrick Tambay was then reunited with his old boss Carl Haas racing in the Haas Lola F1 team in 1986 where he spent an even more fruitless season alongside 1980 World Champion, Australian driver Alan Jones despite Haas having exclusive use of the new Cosworth designed and built Ford TEC V6 turbo engine.
10.
Patrick Tambay's best result driving either the underpowered Hart engined Lola THL1 or the Ford powered Lola THL2 was a lone 5th place in the THL2 in the 1986 Austrian Grand Prix at the Osterreichring.
11.
In 1987, Patrick Tambay formed his own sports promotion company in Switzerland, but gave this up in 1989 to return to racing.
12.
Patrick Tambay then took up desert rally raiding, finishing twice in the top three on the Paris-Dakar.
13.
Patrick Tambay was the godfather to 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, while his son Adrien raced in the DTM championship between 2012 and 2016.