Two-time Formula 1 grand prix winner Patrick Tambay has died at the age of 73.
The news of his death was communicated to French news agency AFP on Sunday.
Tambay had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease, a disorder that affects the nervous system, in recent years.
The Frenchman was born on June 25, 1949 and made his F1 debut in 1977 at the French Grand Prix with Team Surtees, where he failed to qualify.
But in the following rounds, he had more successful outings with Theodore Racing, scoring fifth-place finishes in the Netherlands and Canada.
He spent the next two seasons with McLaren alongside James Hunt and John Watson respectively.
In 1982, he received a drive at Ferrari to replace Gilles Villeneuve, who had been killed during qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Tambay also was godfather to Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 F1 World Champion and Gilles’ son.
Tambay took his first F1 podium finish at Brands Hatch that year by finishing third, while two races later, he finished first at the Hockenheimring, beating Rene Arnoux to victory.
His second and final F1 victory came in 1983 at Imola – however he would have a handful of other podium results with Ferrari and Renault from 1983 to 1985.
His final F1 season in 1986 was spent with the Haas Lola team, where he scored one point-paying finish in Austria.
Tambay reunited with team boss Carl Haas for his final F1 year, having enjoyed a successful two years in the Can-Am series in 1977 and 1980 with Haas’ team.
Tambay always seemed to be a super nice guy. Too sad to hear this. 73 is still too young but Parkinson’s is no fun.