Olivier Panis

About Olivier Panis

Olivier Panis is a French racing driver born on September 2, 1966, in Lyon. A Formula 1 driver from 1994 to 2004, he won the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix driving a Ligier-Mugen-Honda and remains, as of 2015, the last Frenchman to have won in the discipline. Like most drivers, Olivier Panis began his competitive career in karting as a teenager in 1981. In 1988, he left karting to start his career in single-seaters. He competed in the French Formula Renault championship, which he won on his second attempt. Then, after two successful seasons in the French Formula 3 championship (4th in 1990 and 2nd in 1991), he moved up to the International Formula 3000, where he became champion in 1993. His F3000 title opened the doors to Formula 1. Olivier Panis established himself as a very good rookie, particularly noted for his solidity and consistency. These qualities helped him finish second at the German GP. Another remarkable feat was finishing 15 out of the 16 races of the season. Still with Ligier in 1995, Olivier Panis managed to score points (and even secured another second place, this time at the Australian GP, despite a failing engine). He finished the championship in a remarkable 8th place. His 1996 championship start was average, overshadowed by uncertainties surrounding Ligier’s future. But at the Monaco GP in May, Olivier Panis delivered what would be the race of his life. Starting in the second half of the grid, he drove aggressively on a wet track, overtaking many competitors (highlighted by his forceful pass on Eddie Irvine’s Ferrari) and also capitalized on the misfortunes of the favorites to claim a historic victory, the first for the Ligier team in 15 years. In addition to bringing international recognition to Panis, this victory reignited enthusiasm for French F1 and facilitated the subsequent acquisition of Ligier by Alain Prost. In 1997, Olivier Panis began the season as a driver for the “Prost Grand Prix” team (the new name for Ligier). Buoyed by a solid reputation following his Monaco success the previous year, he had high ambitions, especially since the Prost JS45, equipped with new Bridgestone tires, showed promising potential during winter testing. He confirmed this potential by finishing third at the Brazilian GP and second at the Spanish GP early in the season. These excellent starts were marred by his retirement at the Argentine GP. Then 3rd in the provisional world championship standings behind Schumacher and Villeneuve after 6 races, he approached the Canadian GP with confidence, but a serious accident late in the race abruptly halted his progress. Suffering a fractured leg, he was forced to undergo a long recovery and miss the next 7 GPs. He returned in September at the Luxembourg GP (finishing 6th). The 1998 season marked the true beginning of the Prost Grand Prix adventure (as the Prost JS45 was merely a rebadged Ligier), with the launch of the Prost AP01 and the arrival of the Peugeot engine. However, despite the team’s high ambitions, the season was disappointing. At the end of 1999, he joined the McLaren-Mercedes team as a test driver. At McLaren-Mercedes, although he didn’t have the opportunity to race, he solidified his reputation. His private test times and the public praise from the main drivers (Coulthard and Hakkinen) and team leaders (led by Ron Dennis) helped him secure a race seat for the 2001 season, where he was chosen by BAR-Honda to support Jacques Villeneuve. Olivier is a consultant on Eurosport for the WTCC season and appears on the “Dimanche Méca” show as well as for “the 24 Hours of Le Mans.”