The Ligier JS31 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 Tétu and

Michel Beaujon Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), S ...

for the Ligier team for use in the

1988 Formula One season The 1988 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 42nd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1988 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1988 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested ...

. It was powered by the new,

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, 3.5L Judd CV

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and, like the rest of the F1 grid in 1988, ran on Goodyear tyres. Drivers for the team were French veteran

René Arnoux René Alexandre Arnoux (; born 4 July 1948) is a French former racing driver who competed in 12 Formula One seasons (1978 to 1989). He participated in 165 World Championship Grands Prix (149 starts) winning seven of them, achieving 22 podium fi ...

in his 3rd season driving for 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 Swede

Stefan Johansson Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson (born 8 September 1956) is a Swedish racing driver who drove in Formula One for both Ferrari and McLaren, among other teams. Since leaving Formula One he has won the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans and raced in a number o ...

who had finished 5th in the World Championship with

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

in and 6th with

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

in . Johansson joined the team late in the off-season in place of

Christian Danner Christian Josef Danner (born 4 April 1958) is a former racing driver from Germany. Career Formula Two and Formula 3000 The son of car safety expert Max Danner, Danner started his motor racing career immediately after leaving school in 1977. Aft ...

, who had originally signed to drive but was unable to fit in the car comfortably. Many drivers were considered and held discussions with Ligier for the 1988 season. Among them were Philippe Streiff, Olivier Grouillard, Paolo Barilla and

Michel Ferté Michel Ferté (8 December 1958 – 4 January 2023) was a French professional racing driver. He was the younger brother of Alain Ferté, who is also a professional racing driver. Ferté competed five seasons in Formula 3000 from 1985 to 1989. Fe ...

. The JS31 was the first non-

turbo 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 ...

car produced by Ligier since the Cosworth DFV powered JS21 used in the season and it proved to be very uncompetitive. The car's major failure was a lack of downforce, with Johansson in particular reporting several times during a frustrating season that he had to drive the car as if on a wet track. Johansson, a frequent podium visitor in the previous three seasons, failed to qualify six times and never finished above 9th while seven-time Grand Prix winner Arnoux failed to qualify twice (

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and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

) and never finished a race higher than 10th. Neither driver qualified for the San Marino Grand Prix, the first time in team history that neither of its cars made the grid. The French Grand Prix at

Paul Ricard Paul Louis Marius Ricard (; July 9, 1909 – November 7, 1997) was a French industrialist and creator of an eponymous pastis brand which merged in 1975 with its competitor Pernod to create Pernod Ricard. Ricard was also an environmentalist and t ...

proved to be the lowest point of the season for the French team. On the eve of Arnoux's 40th birthday (celebrated the day after the race), neither Arnoux nor Johansson qualified for the team's home Grand Prix, something that did not please the team's owner

. Ligier did not score a point during 1988, their worst season since

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

, when they also failed to score. On several occasions both Johansson and Arnoux struggled to outqualify the equally uncompetitive EuroBrun. In an effort to optimise the weight distribution of the car, it was designed with an unusual and heavy arrangement of fuel tanks: there were two cells either side of the driver, another between the driver and the engine and a fourth between the engine and gearbox.Hodges (1990) p.134 Ligier only had both cars qualify for a race on 10 occasions in 1988. On 5 of those occasions both cars failed to finish.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

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)

References

Sources

* *

External links

Ligier JS31 at Chicane F1Ligier JS31 at the Formula One DataBase
{{Ligier 1988 Formula One season cars Ligier Formula One cars