The Ligier JS43 was the car with which the Ligier team competed in the

1996 Formula One World Championship The 1996 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 50th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. The championship commenced on 10 March and ended on 13 October after sixteen races. Two World Championship titles were awarded, one for Drivers an ...

. It was driven by Frenchman

Olivier Panis Olivier Panis (; born 2 September 1966) 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. He is the father of racing driver Aurél ...

, who was in his third season with the team, and Brazilian Pedro Diniz, who moved from Forti.

Overview

Background and design

The JS43 was an evolution of 's relatively successful JS41, designed by

Frank Dernie Frank William Dernie (born 3 April 1950) to James Harold Dernie and Monica Dernie (née Pacey) is a veteran British Formula One engineer with extensive Formula One motorsport experience. Career Dernie was brought up in Lancashire and educated at ...

. However, he, team manager Tony Dowe and majority owner Tom Walkinshaw left the team after ownership problems with Ligier founder

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 ...

. This paved the way for Alain Prost to buy the team for .

Season history

Despite these losses, the JS43 performed respectably all season, with both chassis and engine the subject of steady development. Despite season-long complaints about the car's braking performance, Panis took his first and only Grand Prix victory at

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

, in a race where only three cars finished. It was also Ligier's first win since the

1981 Canadian Grand Prix The 1981 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Île Notre-Dame, Montreal on 27 September 1981. It was the fourteenth race of the 1981 Formula One World Championship. The race was run in wet conditions, and ended afte ...

. Panis also finished sixth in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and fifth in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, to place ninth in the Drivers' Championship with 13 points. Diniz finished sixth in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, earning two points which placed him 15th in the Drivers' Championship. The Brazilian was also fortunate to escape a serious fire in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. With a total of 15 points, Ligier placed sixth in the Constructors' Championship. Ligier used 'Gauloises' logos, except at the French, British and German Grands Prix.

Complete Formula One 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 bold indicate pole position)

References

* Ligier Formula One cars 1996 Formula One season cars {{F1-stub