Patrick Depailler
Patrick Depailler spent most of the 1970s as a reliable points-and-podium fixture for Tyrrell, eventually taking his first win at Monaco in 1978, while cultivating a reputation off the track for hobbies — motorcycling and hang-gliding chief among them — that made team bosses considerably more nervous than his on-track performances ever did.
Patrick Depailler joined Tyrrell in the mid-1970s and quickly became one of the team's most consistent performers, regularly finishing on the podium through the second half of the decade.
His first win finally came at the 1978 Monaco Grand Prix, a result that had felt overdue given his consistent pace in the preceding seasons. Off the track, he was known for pursuing motorcycling and hang-gliding with a seriousness that alarmed his own team.
Depailler moved to Ligier for 1979 but suffered a significant hang-gliding injury that cost him part of the season. He was killed in 1980 during pre-season testing at Hockenheim while driving for Alfa Romeo, a loss felt widely across the sport given his standing as one of its most well-regarded drivers.
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Depailler was an enthusiastic motorcyclist who continued riding during race weekends and between events despite his team's clear discomfort with the risk — a habit considered unusually bold for a contracted F1 driver even by the more relaxed safety standards of the 1970s.
After several seasons finishing on the podium without a win, Depailler finally took his first Grand Prix victory at the 1978 Monaco Grand Prix for Tyrrell, a result that felt overdue to many observers given his consistent pace throughout the preceding years.
In 1979, Depailler suffered a serious leg injury in a hang-gliding accident that kept him out of competition for part of the season — an injury sustained entirely away from the track, from a hobby his team had specifically warned him against.
Depailler's hometown of Clermont-Ferrand is closely associated with Michelin, the tyre manufacturer long headquartered there — a detail often noted given how central tyre performance is to Formula 1 competition.