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It was exactly ten years ago today that Olivier Panis announced that he was formally ending his Formula One career.
Panis made his début at the 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix with the Ligier team. He took his first podium during his maiden season with second place at Hockenheim, and in 1996 he famously pulled off a remarkable victory at the Monaco Grand Prix (pictured above) despite starting from 14th place on the grid. Wet weather helped him to make up multiple moves and he timed his switch to slick tyres to perfection. In the end he was one of only three drivers to finish (the others being David Coulthard and Johnny Herbert.)
Panis continued with the team when it was bought by former world champion Alain Prost in 1997, but he suffered a high speed accident at Canada which left him with two broken legs. He would later spend two seasons at BAR and another two at Toyota Racing, but he lost his full-time race seat at Toyota at the end of 2004 and spend the following season as a test and development driver with the team.
He finally called time on Formula One in 2006 and has since raced in sports cars with four outings in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Team Oreca between 2008 and 2011. These days his time spent at motor racing circuits tends to be in support of his son Aurélien who has been working his way up through the various Formula Renault championships, and who could yet bring the Panis name back to Formula One at some point in the future.
