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| Olivier Panis |
Olivier Panis
Born: 2 September 1966, Lyon, France
Grand Prix Starts: 158
Grand Prix Victories: 1
Points Total: 76
Olivier Panis began his racing career in 1987, two years later becoming France's Formula Renault champion. Two successful seasons in F3 were followed by victory in the F3000 championship in 1993...
Panis made his F1 debut with Ligier at interlagos in 1994, his best results being second at Hockenheim and Adelaide. His maiden win came at a wet Monaco in 1996 where he started 14th on the grid but drove a superb race to record his sole victory and the upset of the year. Ligier evolved into Prost in 1997, and Panis gained points for the new team in Melbourne and Monaco, a podium finish at Interlagos, and then took second behind Villeneuve's Williams in Spain. A promising season was cut short when he hit the barriers at Montreal and broke both legs.
1998 was a disappointment for Panis, and his relationship with the Prost team worsened the following year. He moved to McLaren for 2000, and then on to BAR for two seasons, scoring just 8 points.
He spent the final two years of his F1 career at Toyota, racing for the last time at Suzuka in 2004.