Patrick Depailler

Patrick André Eugène Joseph Depailler (born 9 August 1944 in Clermont-Ferrand, France, died 21 June 1981 in Mexico City, Mexico) was a Grand Prix racing driver famous for his appearances in Formula One.

Patrick Depailler pictured whilst at Williams in 1978.

Formula One

1976-1977: Ferrari

1976

At the beginning of the season, Depailler was forced to sit on the sidelines as a result of failing to find a drive. However, at the non-championship BRDC International Trophy event Depailler was called upon by Scuderia Ferrari to race alongside Niki Lauda. A good performance from the Frenchman netted Depailler a reserve role at the Scuderia.

Following the death of Niki Lauda at the Soviet Grand Prix, Ferrari withdrew from the French Grand Prix - before returning to the championship at Brands Hatch with Depailler in Lauda's place. Nearly all of Depailler's 1976 outings ended up in retirement, barring the Austrian Grand Prix - which he won - and the Italian Grand Prix, where he came second to teammate Jody Scheckter.

1977

Patrick Depailler returned to the Scuderia for the 1976 season. His season started well, taking pole position at three of the four opening races, though strangely his first win of the year came at the South African Grand Prix - where he did not qualify on pole. Depailler followed Scheckter home for a Ferrari one-two at the Belgian Grand Prix. Depailler would win another race, in The Netherlands, before it was announced that he would be benched by the Scuderia in Italy and Canada in order for them to evaluate a possible replacement for him in 1978. These candidates were Elio de Angelis and Gilles Villeneuve - both of which would impress on their respective trials - with Villeneuve even scoring a maiden win on his debut for Ferrari. Whilst he was shut out of the team for these two races, Depailler would race for the Williams Racing team replacing the injured Alan Jones. Depailler's best result for Williams would be an impressive third in Italy, just one place behind his Ferrari stand-in De Angelis. Depailler returned to Ferrari for the final two Grands Prix of the season, but his relationship with the Prancing Horse had by now broken down entirely. With the team making clear that he would not be in the running for a 1978 race seat, Depailler struggled in the hostile environment, with his best result a solitary 5th place at the Japanese Grand Prix - his final race for Ferrari.

1978: Williams

With Ferrari signing Gilles Villeneuve for 1978, Depailler found a new home with Williams alongside Alan Jones, after impressing Frank Williams during his stint on loan. He managed a number of podiums and finished the season in sixth. He was let go at the end of the season.

1980: Ligier

After a year on the sidelines, Depailler signed for Ligier on a two year deal where he failed to impress in his first season with the team.

1981: Arrows/B&S Fabrications

Depailler was loaned out to the Ragno Arrows North Star Beta Racing Team in 1981, racing alongside fellow French upstart Jérémy-Étienne Voeckler. He was consistent, if outperformed regularly by Voeckler. At the Spanish Grand Prix, he moved to B&S Fabrications team on a one-off. Following a boycott from several FOCA teams, the B&S Spartecs had an unusual opportunity to challenge for points. Sure enough, it was Depailler who delivered the team's best ever Championship result with a third place behind Elio de Angelis and Patrick Tambay. Unfortunately, only two races later - Depailler would succumb to injuries suffered in a startline crash at the Mexican Grand Prix.

Complete Formula 1 Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Points	WDC
1976	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 312T	Ferrari 015 3.0 F12	ARG	RSA	USW	ESP	BEL	MON	SOV	FRA	GBR 16†	GER Ret	AUT 1	NED Ret	ITA 2	CAN Ret	USA Ret	JPN Ret		15	10th
1977	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 312T2	Ferrari 015 3.0 F12	ARG 14†	RSA 1	USW Ret	ESP Ret	BEL 2	MON Ret	FRA Ret	TUS Ret	SOV Ret	GBR 10†	NED 1	GER Ret	AUT 5			USA Ret	JPN 5	32	7th
	Template:GBR Williams Racing	Williams FW05B	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8														ITA 3	CAN 7
1978	Template:GBR Saudia Williams Racing Team	Williams FW06	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG 2	RSA 3	USW Ret	ESP 7	BEL 4	MON 2	SUI 5	TUS Ret	GBR 2	FRA Ret	NED Ret	GER 6	AUT Ret	ITA Ret	CAN 3	USA Ret		32	6th
1979	Did not participate
1980	Template:FRA Ligier Talbot Gitanes	Ligier JS11B	Matra MS80 3.0 V12	ARG Ret	BRA Ret	USW Ret	ESP Ret	BEL Ret	MON	MEX Ret	SMR 12	FRA 12	GBR 7	GER Ret	AUT 10	ITA 7	CAN	CPL Ret	DUB 8		0	-
1981	Template:GBR Arrows North Star Racing Team	Arrows A4	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG 11	RSA 14	BRA 8	USW 10		BEL ENT	MON ENT	SMR ENT	MEX ENT	FRA ENT	GBR ENT	GER ENT	AUT ENT	EUR ENT	ITA ENT	CAN ENT	CPL ENT	0	-
	Template:GBR B&S Fabrications	Spartec G71C	Hart 415T 1.5 L4t					ESP ENT