He only logged two grand prix victories during his two-year stint at Maranello, but he played a huge role in helping to steer the team through a traumatic time, with Villeneuve’s death followed a few months later by another devastating accident that ended the career of Didier Pironi.
Tambay’s easy-going personality made him the perfect man for such a difficult task. Hugely charming and possessed of a winning smile and impeccable manners, he made friends wherever he went. It says a lot that over the course of his career he was often reunited with teams and key personnel years after first working with them – people liked having him around.
Like so many other Frenchmen of his generation Tambay was propelled to the top of the sport by Elf. An accomplished skier in his youth, he enjoyed driving road cars in snowy conditions, and a trip to the Monaco GP inspired him to go to the Winfield school at Paul Ricard.
Already 23, he duly won the Pilote Elf racing school prize – the judges included Ken Tyrrell and Francois Cevert – which led to a paid Formule Renault drive for 1972. In his second season he finished runner-up to Rene Arnoux in the French championship, and after convincing Elf that he should by-pass F3 he moved straight into F2 in 1974 with the Alpine team.
He finished seventh in the championship and, again with Elf support, moved to the works March outfit for 1975. A win in Nogaro and five second places saw him finish equal runner-up, albeit a long way behind winner Jacques Laffite.
He stayed on for a third year in 1976 with the Martini team, again winning at Nogaro and finishing third in the points behind Jean-Pierre Jabouille and team mate Arnoux. That year he also made his Le Mans debut in a works Renault, partnering Jabouille, and got a first taste of the US scene when he contested an F5000 race at Riverside with Teddy Yip’s Theodore Racing team.
By now it was time for Tambay to leave F2 behind. For 1977 he made an unusual sideways switch to CanAm as replacement for the injured Brian Redman at the Haas team. He won six races and took the title, and made a second Le Mans appearance with Renault.
Patrick Tambay, Ferrari 126C3
Photo by: Motorsport Images
That summer he also finally landed his F1 chance. He was offered a Surtees seat at his home race in Dijon at the very last minute, but he failed to qualify. He had already signed to drive an Ensign run by Theodore Racing for the rest of the season, starting at…
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