Imagine your dream of owning a Formula one team. Naturally, the first thing you wish for would be a Renault V10, lots of money courtesy of some tobacco giant, and a couple of quick young drivers. After all, what more do you need for success?
Well, the Ligier team have been there, and from their results, something has been missing. There is a whole lot more to success than a Renault V10.
Ligier was originally founded in 1975 , the brain child of French international rugby player, Guy Ligier. The early seasons proved somewhat remarkable. The one car team won against many of the bigger names in Formula 1 at that time, and in 1980, came second in the constructors race. Since then, Ligier has been in decline. Always promising much, and never seeming to deliver. Flashes of success recently have only come through such events as Hockenheimring 1994 or Adelaide 1995, when half the field was wiped out (generally the better half of the field).
Still, the money has always flowed. Ligier were always that wonderful deep blue that Formula 1 had Seita’s Giantes brand to thank for….until this year.
The last three years have seen much change in the traditional French team. First in 1993, no French drivers graced the team line-up. The Brundell brothers, Mark and Martin, were chosen for the job, a decision that surprised many. Ligier had a very heavy involvement in the French oil company Elf’s program "Filiere". The concept of this program was to get young French drivers into Formula 1. The program has produced drivers such as Erik Comas, Olivier Panis and Jean-Christophe Boullion as of late. Clearly some kind of shake up within the team was occurring to produce such a driver line up.
The bigger shock was to come part way through 1994. It was revealed that the Benetton Team Boss, Flavio Briatore, had successful brought the Ligier team. Not for the team itself, but rather to pry away the Renault engine for the Benetton concern. This left Ligier somewhat engineless for the 1995 season. A Peugeot engine deal was hinted at, but was eventually snapped up by Eddie Jordan. In a last minute battle with Minardi, Ligier managed to grab the Mugen Honda engine (after the collapse of Lotus).
The French team was changing. A Italian owner, Italian Team Boss (Cesare Fiorio), Japanese engines and most interestingly a Scottish Technical director, one Tom Walkinshaw.
In 1996, Fiorio departed to Forti Corse, leaving Walkinshaw as the team boss. After this, the Ligier team was looking troubled. Despite Tom Walkinshaw at the helm, the sponsors said no thanks. Some 30 employees of the team had to be laid off due to lack of sponsorship. Gone were the Giantes dollars, in their place the Gauloises brand was being displayed. Brazilian dairy company Parmalat climbed aboard, care of the teams new driver, Pedro Diniz.
Personally I have a lot of faith in Tom Walkinshaw, and my faith in the revitalized Ligier team went along with it. It is a shame the whole thing only lasted two races this year. No sooner than after the Grand Prix of Melbourne, rumors were circulated that Walkinshaw had outright brought the Arrows team.
On the way to Arrows, Walkinshaw took with him many key personnel, and some sponsorship. A look at the Ligiers either at Nurburgring or Imola will revel a rather empty looking car. Even the Parmalat sponsorship has moved to a less prominent position than one might expect.
So the question is, where does the Ligier team go from here?
At first my opinion was that Walkinshaw’s departure was another nail in the coffin in the Magny Cours based team. The departure of someone with the skills to rejuvenate the team to its former days of glory seemed to be an indication that that troubles were looming. Now, I’m not so sure.
Despite Walkinshaw’s departure, the performance from Ligier hasn’t been too bad. Olivier Panis has produced flashes of Brilliance over last weekend, most noticeable: 5th fastest time on Friday of the San Marino Grand Prix. 13th position in qualifying was also a reasonable effort. Considering the Ligier as probably only the 6th or 7th best car out there, there is nothing wrong with that position. Panis also managed 7th fastest in Sunday morning’s warm up. Surprisingly, Ligier’s performance seemed much more credible than the TWR effort at Arrows throughout the weekend.
There were suggestions made that Walkinshaw was not in full control of the situation at Ligier. After all, it has been his desire since he first linked up with Benetton in 1991 to have TWR in full control of its own team, and the Ligier situation was clearly not what he was looking for.
The most important point to consider about Ligier is the teams French history. Building on that now will be crucial to the survival of the team. It would be reasonable to expect the French sponsors to return next year as the whole team reverts back to its French origins. There have been suggestions of late that Peugeot may be willing to consider supplying a second team in 1997, although one would assume not on a development par with the works Jordan Team.
TWR maybe gone, but I suspect it will be only a short memory for a team with many years ahead....