Patrick Tambay is a racing driver from France who last raced in Formula 1 for Lola. Tambay has recorded 2 wins and 11 podiums from 117 starts.[1]
A Racer Rating of 4,877 ranks Tambay 400th of 15,348 indexed drivers, on an Elo scale where the strongest reach the low five figures. It is built from every indexed race in the driver's file, decayed for time since their last race.
| 1986-10-26 | Adelaide Street Circuit | DNF | +36 |
| 1986-10-12 | Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez | DNF | −148 |
| 1986-09-21 | Autódromo do Estoril | DNF | −11 |
| 1986-09-07 | Autodromo Nazionale di Monza | DNF | −119 |
| 1986-08-17 | Red Bull Ring | P5 | +102 |
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Podiums | DNFs | Poles | Points | Pos | Gain/Loss | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | ▸Formula 1 | Lola | 15 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 2 | P15 | −403 | 4,954 |
| 1985 | ▸Formula 1 | Renault | 15 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 11 | P11 | −256 | 5,358 |
| 1984 | ▸Formula 1 | Renault | 15 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 11 | P11 | +131 | 5,613 |
| 1983 | ▸Formula 1 | Ferrari | 15 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 40 | P4 | +525 | 5,482 |
| 1982 | ▸Formula 1 | Ferrari | 8 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 25 | P7 | +497 | 4,957 |
| 1981 | ▸Formula 1 | Ligier | 14 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | P18 | −399 | 4,460 |
| 1979 | ▸Formula 1 | McLaren | 13 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | P22 | −511 | 4,859 |
| 1978 | ▸Formula 1 | McLaren | 15 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 | P13 | +569 | 5,370 |
| 1977 | ▸Formula 1 | Ensign | 7 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | P17 | +1 | 4,801 |
| Rival | Rating | Raced | Ahead | Behind | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇫🇷 René Arnoux | 4,563 | 28 | 13 | 15 | 46% |
| 🇫🇮 Keke Rosberg | 5,217 | 27 | 14 | 13 | 52% |
| 🇫🇷 Jacques Laffite | 5,186 | 25 | 13 | 12 | 52% |
| 🇫🇷 Alain Prost | 6,204 | 24 | 6 | 18 | 25% |
| 🇮🇹 Elio de Angelis | 5,282 | 22 | 7 | 15 | 32% |
| 🇦🇹 Niki Lauda | 5,364 | 21 | 4 | 17 | 19% |
| 🇧🇷 Nelson Piquet | 5,153 | 21 | 6 | 15 | 29% |
| 🇨🇭 Marc Surer | 5,035 | 21 | 16 | 5 | 76% |
| 🇦🇷 Carlos Reutemann | 5,765 | 20 | 7 | 13 | 35% |
| 🇮🇹 Riccardo Patrese | 5,627 | 20 | 11 | 9 | 55% |
Patrick Tambay was a French Formula 1 driver who competed at the sport's top level from 1977 to 1986, recording 117 starts across nine seasons with a single-seater rating of 4,877. He won two Grands Prix and claimed 11 podium finishes, with an average classified finish of sixth place. His career unfolded in an era that included some of the strongest drivers in the sport's history; he shared grids regularly with Alain Prost, Niki Lauda, Keke Rosberg, and Jacques Laffite, and finished ahead of all of them on occasion, though he was more often bested by drivers of that calibre. Most notably, Tambay outfinished Prost, a five-time world champion, six times across 24 shared races, and he recorded 17 finishes ahead of the three-time champion Lauda in 21 encounters.[1]
Tambay's record against his peers reflected a mid-field professional capability rather than a front-runner's consistency. Against René Arnoux, effectively his peer in rating, the head-to-head was nearly even at 13 finishes ahead and 15 behind across 28 races. He proved roughly matched with Rosberg, a world champion, trading advantages almost equally over 27 shared races. His competitive standing was most plainly expressed against the stronger drivers on the grid; he managed just six finishes ahead of Prost's 18 against him, and seven ahead of de Angelis's 15. Tambay spent 30 of his 117 starts with Renault, the most frequent team association of his career, driving for a constructor with a strong record in the period.[2]