Category | Formula One | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Constructor | Prost | ||||||||||
Designer(s) | Loïc Bigois (Engineering Director) Claude Delbet (Chief Designer) Damien Py (Chief Engineer) | ||||||||||
Predecessor | Ligier JS43 | ||||||||||
Successor | AP01 | ||||||||||
Technical specifications | |||||||||||
Chassis | carbon-fibre and honeycomb composite structure | ||||||||||
Suspension (front) | double wishbones, pushrod, twin or triple damper | ||||||||||
Suspension (rear) | double wishbones, pushrod, twin damper | ||||||||||
Engine | Mugen-Honda MF301HA & MF301HB 3.0-litre 72-degree V10 | ||||||||||
Transmission | Prost six-speed transverse sequential semi-automatic | ||||||||||
Power | 710 hp @ 13,900 rpm [1] | ||||||||||
Fuel | Elf | ||||||||||
Tyres | Bridgestone | ||||||||||
Competition history | |||||||||||
Notable entrants | Prost Gauloises Blondes | ||||||||||
Notable drivers | 14. Olivier Panis 14. Jarno Trulli 15. Shinji Nakano | ||||||||||
Debut | 1997 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
Last event | 1997 European Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Constructors' Championships | 0 | ||||||||||
Drivers' Championships | 0 |
The Prost JS45 was the Formula One racing car constructed by Ligier with which the Prost team competed in the 1997 Formula One World Championship, and the first Prost-badged car following Alain Prost's acquisition of Ligier in February 1997.
The acquisition of Ligier from Flavio Briatore by Prost, and its subsequent renaming after him, marked the end of the Ligier name in F1 after involvement in the sport since 1976. However, the car had been designed and built beforehand, and so retained its Ligier designation of JS45. Also retained were Mugen Honda engines and Gauloises sponsorship, though the team opted for Bridgestone tyres in the Japanese's company's first year of F1.
Prost's lead driver was Olivier Panis, who had driven for Ligier since 1994, while the second seat was taken by Japanese rookie Shinji Nakano, largely due to pressure from engine suppliers Mugen. [2]
In the first six races of the season, the JS45 proved extremely promising. The problems of braking and pitch sensitivity with the previous year's Ligier JS43 had been largely solved, and this, allied with Panis' skill and the durability of the Bridgestones, enabled the French driver to finish fifth in Australia, third in Brazil, fourth in Monaco and then second in Spain, just six seconds behind eventual World Champion Jacques Villeneuve. These results put him third in the Drivers' Championship, and after the Spanish Grand Prix Villeneuve said that he regarded Panis as one of his main threats for the rest of the season.
However, a suspected suspension failure or puncture caused Panis to crash heavily into a concrete wall at the very next race in Canada, breaking both his legs and putting him out of action for the next seven Grands Prix. Nonetheless, the car remained competitive due to Panis' replacement Jarno Trulli, who had been recruited from Minardi. Trulli finished fourth in Germany before leading the first half of the Austrian Grand Prix after qualifying third, and these achievements impressed Prost enough for him to sign the Italian full-time for 1998. Panis returned for the final three races of the season and picked up one final point for sixth in his first race back, at the Nürburgring.
The inexperienced Nakano, meanwhile, proved solid if not spectacular, scoring two points for sixth places at Canada (after the race was stopped following Panis' crash) and Hungary. However, he did not retain his seat for 1998, as Panis stayed on alongside Trulli and the team took on Peugeot engines, swapping with Jordan.
At the end of the season, Panis was tenth in the Drivers' Championship with 16 points, while Trulli was 16th with his three points from Germany and Nakano was 19th with his two (though all three were later promoted a place following Michael Schumacher's exclusion from the standings). With a total of 21 points, Prost placed sixth in the Constructors' Championship.
Prost used 'Gauloises' logos, except at the French, British and German Grands Prix.
(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)
Year | Team | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Points | WCC |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | Prost Gauloises Blondes | Mugen Honda V10 | B | AUS | BRA | ARG | SMR | MON | ESP | CAN | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | AUT | LUX | JPN | EUR | 21 | 6th | |
Olivier Panis | 5 | 3 | Ret | 8 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 6 | Ret | 7 | |||||||||||||
Jarno Trulli | 10 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 10 | Ret | ||||||||||||||||
Shinji Nakano | 7 | 14 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 6 | Ret | 11 | 7 | 6 | Ret | 11 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 10 |
Alain Marie Pascal Prost is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Michael Schumacher surpassed Prost's total of 51 victories at the 2001 Belgian Grand Prix.
Olivier Jean Denis Marie Panis is a French former racing driver. Panis raced in Formula One for ten seasons, earning his first and only win at the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix for the Ligier team. Panis' manager has been Didier Coton.
The 1997 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne on 9 March 1997. It was the first race of the 1997 Formula One World Championship, and the second Australian Grand Prix to be held in Melbourne.
The 1997 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 25 May 1997 at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmeló, Spain. It was the sixth race of the 1997 Formula One World Championship.
The 1997 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on 15 June 1997. The race was stopped early on lap 54 after a big crash involving Olivier Panis, who broke his legs and would be unable to start the next seven Grands Prix. Michael Schumacher won ahead of Jean Alesi in the Benetton and Giancarlo Fisichella in the Jordan. David Coulthard had been leading, but was delayed for over a lap by a clutch problem during his second pit stop, shortly before Panis's crash. On lap 2, local driver Jacques Villeneuve crashed into the wall on the exit of the final corner. This wall would later be known as the 'Wall of Champions', after three former World Champions, including Villeneuve, crashed into it separately in the 1999 race.
The 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Hungaroring, Mogyoród, Pest, Hungary on 10 August 1997. The race, contested over 77 laps, was the eleventh race of the 1997 Formula One season and was won by Jacques Villeneuve, driving a Williams-Renault, with Damon Hill second in an Arrows-Yamaha and Johnny Herbert third in a Sauber-Petronas.
The 1997 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the A1-Ring on 21 September 1997. It was the fourteenth race of the 1997 Formula One World Championship, and the first Austrian Grand Prix since 1987.
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The 1997 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 51st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It commenced on 9 March and ended on 26 October after seventeen races. The Drivers' Championship was won by Jacques Villeneuve and the Constructors' Championship was awarded to Williams-Renault.
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The Prost AP02 was the car with which the Prost Formula One team competed in the 1999 Formula One season. It was driven by Olivier Panis, in his sixth season with the team, and Jarno Trulli, in his second full season with the team.
The Prost AP01 was the car with which the Prost team competed in the 1998 Formula One World Championship. It was driven by Frenchman Olivier Panis, who was in his fifth season with the team, and Italian Jarno Trulli, who was in his first full season with Prost after deputising for the injured Panis for several races in 1997.
The Ligier JS43 was the car with which the Ligier team competed in the 1996 Formula One World Championship. It was driven by Frenchman Olivier Panis, who was in his third season with the team, and Brazilian Pedro Diniz, who moved from Forti.
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Prost Grand Prix was a Formula One racing team owned and managed by four-time Formula One world champion Alain Prost. The team participated in five seasons from 1997 to 2001.
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