Patrick Tambay
Patrick Daniel Tambay (born 25th June, 1949 in Paris, France) is a French former Grand Prix racing driver.
Contents
Formula One
1976: John Player Team Lotus
Following the season-ending injuries suffered by Ronnie Peterson, Tambay was drafted in to drive the #6 Lotus for the latter stages of the 1976 season.
He took a pair of podiums in the Dutch and Italian Grands Prix, followed by a shock first win in a Japanese Grand Prix struck by a rain storm.
1977: Martini Racing
Despite taking Lotus's only win in 1976, Tambay found himself ousted by the Norfolk-based team. Brabham would come calling for the Frenchman ahead of the second round, joining British racer James Hunt and replacing the hapless Italian Lella Lombardi. In his first four races for the team, Hunt would take his BT45B to three points finishes, including a trip to the podium in South Africa, whereas Tambay could only manage two 10th places. This would change at Monaco, as Tambay came home in fifth position, whereas Hunt was forced out of the race with engine issues. His next points finish would come at the Soviet Grand Prix with another fifth, before the updated Brabham BT45C was introduced for the British Grand Prix. Tambay would use the new machinery to score his best result of the season, following James Hunt home for a surprise yet popular Brabham 1-2. However, two races later, Tambay would be injured at the Dutch Grand Prix, but luckily he avoided serious injury and only missed the German Grand Prix. In his first race back at the Austrian Grand Prix Tambay would finish 7th - but this would prove to be his highest finish for the last 5 races, meaning Tambay would not improve on his tally of 10 points. This was enough for 11th in the WDC, but it wouldn't be enough for Brabham to renew his contract, the team instead opting to sign John Watson.
Complete Formula 1 Results
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Points | WDC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | John Player Team Lotus | Lotus 77 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ARG | RSA | USW | ESP | BEL | MON | SOV | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT Ret |
NED 3 |
ITA 3 |
CAN 9 |
USA Ret |
JPN 1 |
17 | 9th | |
| 1977 | Martini Racing | Brabham BT45B | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ARG | RSA 13† |
USW Ret |
ESP 10 |
BEL 10 |
MON 5 |
FRA Ret |
TUS 14† |
SOV 5 |
10 | 11th | ||||||||
| Brabham BT45C | GBR 2 |
NED Ret |
GER INJ |
AUT 7 |
ITA 12 |
CAN Ret |
USA 12† |
JPN 11 | ||||||||||||||
| 1978 | Hesketh Racing | Hesketh 308E | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ARG | RSA | USW | ESP | BEL | MON | FRA | TUS | GBR DNPQ |
SUI | NED DNPQ |
GER | 5 | 12th | |||||
| Martini Racing | Brabham BT46 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | AUT 4 |
ITA 12 |
||||||||||||||||||
| Ligier Gitanes | Ligier JS7 | Matra MS73 3.0 V12 | CAN 10 |
USA 5 |
