The Ligier JS25 was a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

car designed by Michel Beaujon and

Claude Galopin Claude Galopin is a French automotive engineer. Career In , Galopin was recruited by the Ligier Formula One team as a race engineer, a position he remained in for four years. He then stepped down to International Formula 3000 to work for the GB ...

for use by the

Ligier Ligier (() is a French automobile and minibus maker created by former racing driver and rugby player Guy Ligier (1930–2015), specialized in the manufacturing of microcars. Ligier is best known for its involvement in the Formula 1 World Champio ...

team during the 1985 Formula One season. Like its predecessor, the JS23, the JS25 was powered by a

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

V6 engine A V6 engine is a six-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V6 engines were designed and produced independently by Marmon Motor Car Company, Deutz Gasmotoren Fabrik ...

although the car ran on

Pirelli Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is a multinational tyre manufacturer based in Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Milan Stock Exchange since 1922, is the 6th-largest tyre manufacturer and is focused on the consumer production of tyre ...

instead of

Michelin Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ''région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and la ...

tyres after the French company pulled out of Grand Prix racing at the end of . Drivers of the car were initially their driver

Andrea de Cesaris Andrea de Cesaris (31 May 19595 October 2014) was an Italian racing driver. He started 208 Formula One Grands Prix but never won. As a result, he holds the record for the most races started without a race victory. A string of accidents early in ...

and veteran

Jacques Laffite Jacques-Henri Laffite (; born 21 November 1943) is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . He achieved six Grand Prix wins, all while driving for the Ligier team. From 1997 to 2013, Laffite was a presenter for TF1. ...

who returned to the team after two fruitless years at Williams, but after a series of crashes, de Cesaris was fired by team boss

Guy Ligier Guy Camille Ligier (12 July 1930 – 23 August 2015) was a French racing driver and team owner. He maintained many varied and successful careers over the course of his life, including rugby player, butcher, racing driver and Formula One team owner ...

and replaced by

Philippe Streiff Philippe Streiff (26 June 1955 – 23 December 2022) was a French racing driver. He participated in 55 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 21 October 1984. He achieved one podium, and scored a total of 11 championship points. A pre-season tes ...

. Using the JS25, the French team were able to score 23 points in 1985 and finished 6th in the Constructors Championship. Laffite was able to score two 3rd-place finishes and also a 2nd place at the season ending

Australian Grand Prix The Australian Grand Prix is an annual motor racing event which is under contract to host Formula One until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Grand Prix has moved frequently with 23 different venu ...

where team mate Streiff also managed to finish 3rd, although his efforts to take 2nd from Laffite almost cause both cars to not finish the race. Streiff made contact with Laffite on the penultimate lap of the race and drove the last with his left front wheel almost off the car. Easily the most spectacular moment for the JS25 came at the

Austrian Grand Prix The Austrian Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Österreich) is a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile sanctioned motor racing event that was held in , –, –, and then returned to the Formula One calendar in . History The A ...

when de Cesaris (aptly nicknamed "de Crasheris") destroyed his car in a high-speed rollover on lap 14.Austrian Grand Prix - Andrea de Cesaris crash
/ref> The team had not yet seen the accident on the television monitors when de Cesaris returned to the pits and he merely told them that the car had stalled and could not restart it, causing the team to be shocked when they finally saw the crash on replay. It was after this event that team owner Guy Ligier decided he could no longer afford the repair bills for de Cesaris's frequent crashes, stating ''"I can no longer afford to employ this man"'' (this was despite the Italian's personal sponsor

Marlboro Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (now separate from Altria) outside the US. The largest Marl ...

paying the bulk of his salary). He was replaced by Streiff after the next race in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Ironically, Streiff was almost the cause of the team missing out on what would prove to be their best result of the season. In the final race of the season in Australia, Laffite and Streiff were headed for a safe 2nd and 3rd respectively behind race winner

Keke Rosberg Keijo Erik Rosberg (born 6 December 1948), known as "Keke" (), is a Finnish former racing driver and winner of the Formula One World Championship. He was the first Finnish driver to compete regularly in the series, as well as the first Finnish ...

's Williams-

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

. On the penultimate lap, Streiff tried to overtake his team-mate for second place with almost disastrous results as the two cars collided. As a result, Streiff's front wheel axle was severely damaged. While Laffite carried on in second, Streiff managed to limp his JS25 home and retain third place despite only have three wheels firmly attached to the car, with the front left wheel bouncing up and down over the course of the last lap, but somehow remaining attached to the car. It would remain a career best finish for Streiff. Guy Ligier, not impressed that Streiff had almost taken out both team cars at the end of the race when they were both assured of a podium finish, would not offer the Frenchman a drive for 1986 as a result. The JS25 was replaced for the season by the Ligier JS27.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) * Équipe Ligier boycotted the 1985 South African Grand Prix due to mounting international pressures against tolerating the country's system of apartheid. Ligier's boycott was in lockstep with the

French government The Government of France ( French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who ...

's boycott and sanctioning of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

References

External links

Ligier JS25 at Chicane F1Ligier JS25 at the Formula One DataBaseVideo of Andrea de Cesaris's crash
at the

. {{Ligier 1985 Formula One season cars Ligier Formula One cars