The CRAZIEST F1 race ever
Just three finished out of 22 and the winner had started 14th on the grid... if Hamilton thinks he’s had a mad season so far, he should beware the amazing events at Monaco 21 years ago...
WHEN Lewis Hamilton returns to his home beside the Mediterranean this week in search of victory at the Monaco Grand Prix, one man will know better than anyone how Formula One’s most glamorous race can deliver the craziest storylines.
Twenty one years ago, a quiet, unassuming Frenchman began the Grand Prix from 14th on the grid; another postcode from where Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill occupied the front row.
On the notorious streets where overtaking is all but impossible, no one had ever won from lower than eighth. And Olivier Panis was also driving for Ligier, a team who had not won an F1 race for 15 years.
But that day in 1996 he was to take the lead role in the most extraordinary F1 race of all time, when just three cars finished after a catalogue of crashes, driver error and torrential rain. Panis’s car was so low on fuel, it could not be restarted once it had passed the chequered flag.
Monaco is the Grand Prix every driver craves to win and all the best have, from Juan Manuel Fangio and Sir Stirling Moss, to Graham Hill, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Schumacher, Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. ‘It is the prince of them all,’ says Sir Jackie Stewart, who won the race three times.
An indication of the fierce interrogation of mind and body that Panis survived, from rivals, from the atrocious weather conditions and from a car running on the dregs of its fuel load in the dying miles, can be gauged by the fact just two other drivers took the chequered flag that day, both British: David Coulthard, in a McLaren, and Sauber’s Johnny Herbert. No F1 race has had fewer finishers.
Panis, now 50, still exudes the easy charm which carried him through a decade of racing without making an enemy. ‘Wherever I am, it is Monaco people want to speak about,’ he says with a smile, as he settles down in the library of the Hotel Francois 1er, just off the Champs Elysee in Paris.
‘I’m proud of this; it is part of my life. The track is not a race track, it is many streets and they have so much history to tell. After this victory, it is true I have a different level of respect — and it gave me many more years to do my job. Monaco is a mythical Grand Prix, a trial of strength and madness.’
His recall of the race, its chaos and ever-changing plot, is not dimmed by the passing years.
When he looked out of the window of his hotel room on race morning, his mood brightened as he watched rain drench the Mediterranean. Despite his mis-firing Ligier MugenHonda being on the seventh row, Pan is says: ‘As I saw the rain, I was convinced this could help me be on the podium.’
His wife Anne assessed the same view with scepticism. ‘You know where you are starting,’ she reminded him, kindly. ‘And in Monaco everyone knows you can’t overtake.’ Panis laughed. ‘Anne took me for a crazy man.’
The men ahead of him, forming a formidable barrier, included Hill, Schumacher, Coulthard, Mika Hakkinen, Jacques Villeneuve and Herbert. Schumacher was already a double world champion and, in time, he would rewrite the record books, while Hill, Ville- neuve and Hakkinen, twice, would all become champions. When Panis arrived at the pits, the mood within his garage was buzzing. Honda engineers and Ligier mechanics had worked late into the night. In the morning warm-up, in dry conditions, Panis was fastest.
The Frenchman remembers: ‘I was so happy for all the team, I felt so confident with this car.’
Then it started to rain again. It rained so hard that a support race had to be stopped. Under F1 rules in 1996, if there was rain after a dry LOVELY BUBBLY: Olivier Panis (centre) celebrates with Coulthard (left) and Herbert warm- up, a further 15 minutes’ practice had to be scheduled and Andrea Montermini then totalled his Forti Ford during that to reduce the grid to 21 cars.
In the Ligier garage they opted for a calculated gamble. On a wet track, it was estimated top speed in each gear would be minimally 20mph slower, so they decided to run Panis on full fuel, slowing him with extra weight early on but eliminating a refuelling stop.
At the start, with rain falling and visibility poor, Hill beat Schumacher’s Ferrari to the first corner, Sainte-Devote. Before mid-point of the first lap, worse befell the reigning champion. He struck a barrier, caught out by the greasy surface.
The first lap also claimed Jos Verstappen — father of Max — Giancarlo Fisichella, Pedro Lamy and Rubens Barrichello. Others departed at regular intervals: Ukyo Katayama, Ricardo Rosset and Pedro Diniz, in the second Ligier.
Panis was the only one making progress. Fearlessly, as others searched for grip, he overtook Martin Brundle, then Hakkinen. The next conundrum soon surfaced: when to change to slick tyres on a drying track? Hill dived into the pits after 28 laps and Panis reacted to news of the quickening lap times of the Williams-Renault driver by pitting next.
It was a master stroke. In the bedlam, Panis elevated himself to fourth. Next in his sights was Eddie Irvine and he caught out t he Ulsterman with a brash move down the inside at Loews hairpin.
Still, Hill looked to be in a race of his own. But, on the 41st lap, Hill’s car spluttered to a standstill. So with Hill out, Frenchman Jean Alesi had a commanding lead. It was short- lived. After a routine pit-stop Alesi felt discomfort with his car, which required him to pit again. Another restart — but then Alesi retired his Benetton.
Panis now led, astonishing all but himself. Yet at Ligier there was gathering tension that caused them to radio this message: ‘Be careful on your fuel.’ Behind him, Panis sensed the threat from Coulthard. ‘I saw David in my mirrors everywhere,’ he says.
At McLaren, their calculations told ththem Panis was in trouble. ‘We were convinced Panis would have tot come in and expected David to cruise to victory,’ says designer Neil Oatley.
At Ligier, they feared the same. Race engineer Paolo Catone hit the radio button withw two laps to go: ‘Olivier, I think we need to pit. We don’t have the fuel to go to the end.’ Panis ignored the plea.
Eventually, he felt compelled to reply, ‘Paolo, look, we can be heroes or we can end up looking ridiculous. If I stop before the end with no fuel… bad luck. If I get to win…well, we win. I don’t stop.’
Panis knew a place in history beckoned. And when the chequered flag appeared three laps earlier than scheduled — because the two-hour time-limit had been reached — tens of thousands of fans spread around Monaco rose as one to salute the most improbable victory ever seen on these streets.
‘This is my dream all my life,’ said Pan is, who remains the last Frenchman to have won the Monaco Grand Prix. Mechanics later reported his car would not restart: there was no fuel left.
Months later, Ligier was sold to Prost and rebranded. It proved to be Panis’s solitary win from 158 Grands Prix. These days Panis divides his life between broadcasting on sports car racing, assisting the embryonic racing career of his son, Aurelien, the oldest of his three children, and competing in an iceracing series.
‘If you told me I could win 15 Grands Prix or I could win Monaco, I’d say I want Monaco,’ he says, offering a handshake sensing his feat is unlikely to be replicated next weekend. Or indeed any time soon.