The Ligier JS39 was a

Formula One car A Formula One car or F1 car is a single-seat, open-cockpit, open-wheel racing car, open-wheel formula racing car used to compete in Formula One racing events. It has substantial front and rear wings, large wheels, and a turbocharged engine mid ...

used 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 Cham ...

team during the

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

and

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Formula One seasons. First raced in the

1993 South African Grand Prix The 1993 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 14 March 1993. It was the first race of the 1993 Formula One World Championship. The 72-lap race was won by Frenchman Alain Prost, driving a Williams-Renault. ...

where, driven by Briton

Mark Blundell Mark Blundell (born 8 April 1966) is a British former racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to , and Championship Auto Racing Teams, IndyCar from 1996 PPG Indy Car World Series, 1996 to 2000 CAR ...

, it finished third, the JS39's best finish was a second place achieved by Frenchman

Olivier Panis Olivier Jean Denis Marie Panis (; born 2 September 1966) is a French former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Panis won the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix with Équipe Ligier, Ligier. Panis competed in Formula One for Équipe Ligier, ...

at the

1994 German Grand Prix The 1994 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 31 July 1994 at the Hockenheimring, Hockenheim. It was the ninth race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship. The 45-lap race was won from pole position by Austrian driver Ger ...

Ligier JS39

The engine was the

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

RS5 3.5

V10 A V10 engine is a ten-cylinder piston engine where two banks of five cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V10 engines are much less common than V8 and V12 engines. Several V10 diesel engines have been prod ...

. The number 25 chassis was driven by experienced Briton

Martin Brundle Martin John Brundle (born 1 June 1959) is a British former racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster who competed in Formula One from to . In endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, Brundle won the World Sportscar Champions ...

and the number 26 driven by

. The team did not employ a test driver. The team used a

semi-automatic gearbox A semi-automatic transmission is a multiple-speed transmission where part of its operation is automated (typically the actuation of the clutch), but the driver's input is still required to launch the vehicle from a standstill and to manually chang ...

for the first time, but retained passive suspension. The car was relatively successful for the team, achieving 3 podium finishes, and 23 constructor points. For much of the season, the team stood in fourth place in the constructors' championship, only being overtaken by Ferrari with two races remaining. However, their fifth place in the championship was still their best championship finish since 1986, when they also finished in fifth.

Ligier JS39B

For , the car was upgraded to 'B' specification. The number 26 seat was occupied by

for the whole year, however, the number 25 seat was taken by

Éric Bernard Éric Bernard (born 24 August 1964) is a French former racing driver, who competed in Formula One between and . Born in Martigues, Bernard began competitive kart racing aged 13, winning several national titles. He graduated to Formula Renault ...

Johnny Herbert John Paul Herbert (born 25 June 1964) is a British former racing driver and broadcaster. He competed in Formula One from to , winning three Formula One Grands Prix over a 12-season career. In endurance racing, Herbert won the 24 Hours of Le ...

and

Franck Lagorce Franck Lagorce (born 1 September 1968) is a racing driver from France. He participated in two Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 6 November 1994. He scored no championship points. Career Lagorce competed in French Formula Ford between 1987 and ...

. The team's test driver was Lagorce. The engine was a Renault RS6 3.5 V10. The car did not perform as well as in 1993 but was reliable, enabling Panis and Bernard to finish 2nd and 3rd respectively in the German Grand Prix. The team scored only two other points finishes for the rest of the season. The JS39B was also tested by

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Schumacher won a record-setting seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, tied by Lewis Hamilton in ...

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the civil parish of Cascais e Estoril of the Portuguese Municipality of Cascais, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a popular tourist destination, with hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numero ...

in December 1994, at the request of

Flavio Briatore Flavio Briatore (; born 12 April 1950) is an Italian businessman, who serves as executive adviser and '' de facto'' team principal of Alpine in Formula One. As the longtime team principal of Team Enstone (Benetton Formula / Renault F1 Team ...

, who became the owner of the

team, after the team was purchased by

Tom Walkinshaw Thomas Dobbie Thomson Walkinshaw (14 August 1946 – 12 December 2010) was a British racing car driver from Scotland and the founder of the racing team Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR). He was also involved in professional rugby union, as owner of ...

and Briatore in 1994.

Sponsorship and livery

Livery changes for the JS39 and JS39B are minor, the large horizontal white stripes from the previous season were replaced with a white horizontal dash graphics on the side of the car. In the Grands Prix that did not allow tobacco branding, the

Gitanes Gitanes (, " Gypsy women") is a French brand of cigarettes, owned and manufactured by Imperial Tobacco following their acquisition of Altadis in January 2008, having been owned by SEITA before that. History Gitanes was launched in 1910 in f ...

logos were replaced with a 'gypsy women'. In France, it was completely removed. One of the notable sponsors was Les Pages Jaunes. The following season, it was missing. At the 1993

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

and

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

Grands Prix, Brundle's car was painted with a special artwork livery done by

Hugo Pratt Ugo Eugenio Prat (15 June 1927 – 20 August 1995), better known as Hugo Pratt, was an Italian comic book creator who was known for combining strong storytelling with extensive historical research on works such as '' Corto Maltese''. He was indu ...

Complete Formula One results

( key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

Technical specifications
1993 Formula One season cars 1994 Formula One season cars Ligier Formula One cars {{F1-stub