The news of Tambay’s death was communicated by his family to French news agency AFP on Sunday. He had been known to be suffering from Parkinson’s disease, a progressive disorder that affects the nervous system, as well as diabetes.
Born on June 25, 1949, Tambay went on to spend a decade in F1, racing for some of the biggest teams in grand prix racing including McLaren, Ferrari and Renault.
He made his debut at the French Grand Prix in 1977 with Surtees but failed to qualify, before switching to Theodore Racing for the second half of the season.
His first season with McLaren the following year yielded a best result of fourth, which would remain his best result in Formula 1 until he was called up by Ferrari to replace Gilles Villeneuve during the middle of the 1982 season following the Canadian’s death at Zolder.
After claiming a podium finish in only his second race with the Scuderia at Brands Hatch, Tambay notched up his maiden victory at the German GP just weeks later. He later scored a memorable second-place on Scuderia Ferrari ’s home turf at Monza in the final European race of the campaign.
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