Olivier Panis
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Official Website: Olivier Panis Official Site
Country: France
Date of Birth: 02 Sep 1966
Place of Birth: Lyon
Resides: Grenoble
Status: Married to Anne (2 children: Aurelien & Caroline)
Height: 1.73m
Weight: 76kg
Career previous to F1: 1989 French Formula Renault Champion
1991 French Formula 3 Champion
1993 International F3000 Champion
Races: 126
Wins: 1 (0.8%)
Podiums: 5 (4.0%)
Pole Positions: 0 (0.0%)
Retirements: 47 (37.3%)
Points Accumulated: 64.000
Debut: 27 Mar 1994
Last Race: 09 Mar 2003
First Win: 19 May 1996
Last Win: 19 May 1996 |
View a complete listing of Olivier Panis's Formula 1 results
Driver History
Since he emerged on the scene with the French Ligier team in 1994
- and the retirement of French F1 legend Alain Prost, Olivier has
carried the hopes of French F1 fans.
His rookie season was notable for his steadiness, only failing
to finish on one occasion, ironically at his home GP at Magny-Cours.
The following season his reliability deserted him, especially mid-way
through the season where he spun out in three consecutive races
but a second place at Adelaide rescued some respectability.
The following season produced his one (and to date only) GP win
at Monaco, in a race where only three cars finished. It was a great
season with Panis never outside the top ten. despite team upheavals
and management changes.
In 1997, Alain Prost bought Ligier, and the chance of driving for
an all French team run by one of F1's greatest drivers (and a Frenchman),
was too good an opportunity to miss.
Panis made a blistering start to the season with four points finishes
in the first six races, including a 2nd in the Spanish GP at Barcelona.
However, his progress was interrupted by a serious crash in the
Canadian GP at Montreal in which he broke both his legs. His injuries
forced him to miss three months of the season but he made a comeback
drive at the Luxembourg GP where he snatched sixth place.
1998 and 1999 were frustrating and unsuccessful seasons. Just as
the Prost-Peugeot package was unreliable and uncompetitive, so Olivier
seemed to have lost his motivation.
Towards the end of the '99, Panis made it clear that he had no
intention of staying with Prost for another moment, however with
no other drives on offer, it looked as though Olivier's F1 career
had come to an early finish.
However, Mercedes were quick to snap up Olivier, and as a result
he filled the role of test driver for McLaren-Mercedes in 2000.
After dominating the testing scene at every circuit, it came as
no surprise when Olivier announced that he would be racing for BAR
in 2001.
Neither 2001 or 2002 were stand-out seasons for the much-liked
Frenchman. His best result of 2001 was 4th at Interlagos and he
scored five points all season.In 2002, the dreadfully unreliable
BAR 004 helped him score just three points. The sight of Olivier
walking back, helmet in hand with a resigned look became very familiar
viewing.
Though David Richards was keen to keep him at BAR for 2003 to partner
Jenson Button, and let Jacques Villeneuve go off to CART for one
season, the Canadian wasn't in agreement. And so Olivier duly signed
for Toyota where reliability should not be such an issue.
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