#patrick tambay

[brun00u11]

[teenagedirtstache]

[flymula1]

The main article of Auto-Hebdo issue 139, from November 16th, 1978, named "The Seven Mercenaries". You'll never guess who was really happy about how many French drivers there were in F1 back then.

I don't know where to begin for a summary of its contents. Every single interview has a lot to teach you about the driver it's about. It goes over their seasons, the cars, how they perceived it, etc. Patrick Depailler gets the most screentime because he had won the Monaco GP that year, the only win from a French driver that year... or maybe it's Didier Pironi, who gets a surprisingly long section compared to his fellow countrymen (and they didn't even mention him winning Le Mans earlier than year! It's all F1-related).

The one thing that surprised me the most in there was Patrick Depailler speaking about how heavy the bias in Tyrrell was in 1978 between the two drivers, because while we know it existed, even Patrick himself was surprised by it - and you can guess it, it's how the part on Didier starts.

The least surprising thing was Jacques Laffite outright saying he didn't want his future teammate Patrick Depailler to be treated on equal footing with him. Yeah Jacques I could've guessed from the absolute shitshow that was being Ligier's second driver lmao, but thanks for the transparency! (He says Guy Ligier and Gérard Ducarouge made a "small mistake" there, because Jacques has been here for longer and thinks he deserves the slight advantage).

Bonus cursed cover of the issue itself:

[seymouridae]

the rain has never been so cold

[tweith]

We all know that Didier and Gilles were a gang of daredevils. But did you know that before Didier, Gilles was his friend and godfather to his eldest son, Patrick Tambay?

[flymula1]

Sport-Auto issue 178's announcement of who won the 1976 F1 Driver's World Championship, from November 1976. I know it seems weird to post this in March and... tbh, yeah it is, but I'm enough of an idiot to forget to post anything for the 50th anniversary of the 1976 season, so at least I've got this! It'll be better than nothing.

It's also god a couple cool photos for those who like these and follow the blog for that so, y'know! That's something alright?

A little fun fact about it is that they have this announcement because their report on the Japanese GP would be published in the next entry, that issue was already packed with a bunch of reports on various races and categories.

Also, thanks again for 100+ followers on this blog, in less than a year as well! Still insane there are so many of you finding usefulness in this blog.

[sagaballero]

(Patrick Tambay) From Jacques Villeneuve, Champion of two worlds by Christopher Hilton

[silveryhill]

so sweet