From its entry to Formula 1 from the world of sportscar racing in 1976, the Ligier team added Gallic flair to grand prix competition with its screaming Matra V12 engines, sometimes-beautiful, sometimes-idiosyncratic designs cloaked in the blue livery of Gitanes, and the wonderfully relaxed yet canny Jacques Laffite in the cockpit. It was not until its seventh season that the squad even fielded a non-native-French-speaking driver.
As the 1980s developed, the team founded by rugby player-turned-F1 point-scorer Guy Ligier waxed and waned in competitiveness.
Ligier was renowned as an explosive character who wore his heart on his sleeve and, sadly, his equipe became a commodity in the 1990s as it changed hands on frequent occasions until, over the winter of 1996-97, it became Prost in deference to the takeover of the four-time world champion.
This is our take on the top 10 drivers of Ligier’s colourful F1 history from 1976 to 1996. All starts are for world championship races.
10. Rene Arnoux
Arnoux impressed on his first year with Ligier up against Laffite in 1986
Photo by: Motorsport Images
Ligier years: 1986-89
Ligier starts: 53
Ligier wins: 0
Ligier poles: 0
Celebrated for his performances at Renault and Ferrari, Arnoux arrived at Ligier in 1986 for his ‘second career’ in F1 after being fired by the Prancing Horse early in the preceding season.
His lengthy stint at Ligier from 1986-89 is usually remembered for his stubborn track manners, drawing ire from James Hunt in his commentaries. But there were still glimpses of what was always Arnoux’s strongest suit: his speed.
Laffite had already been back at Ligier for a year when Arnoux arrived, yet it was the new interloper who resoundingly won the qualifying battle between them up until Laffite’s F1 career-ending British GP shunt, the score 8-1 in Arnoux’s favour. For a glorious moment, he ran second in a Ligier 1-2 in the Detroit GP before that fell apart. As did the team, pretty much.
Guy Ligier himself was back at the helm after the departure of Gerard Larrousse, who had joined from Renault for 1985 to run the team, and had brought designer Michel Tetu with him. For 1987, Ligier did a deal with Alfa Romeo to use its engines, only for Arnoux to make an ill-advised criticism of the powerplants when talking to Italian media pre-season.
Alfa took umbrage and withdrew from F1, leaving Ligier to scratch around to secure replacement engines in the form of the BMW-derived…
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