The Ligier JS41 was a

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

car designed by Frank Dernie 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 Cham ...

team in the

1995 Formula One World Championship The 1995 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 49th season of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1995 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1995 Formula One World Champi ...

. The car was powered by the 3-litre ''

Mugen-Honda M-TEC Company, Ltd., doing business as Mugen Motorsports (無限), is a Japanese company formed in 1973 by Hirotoshi Honda, the son of Honda, Honda Motor Company founder Soichiro Honda, and Masao Kimura. Mugen, meaning "without limit", "unlim ...

MF-301''

V10 engine 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 pro ...

. The number 26 car was driven 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, ...

while, at the insistence of Mugen, the number 25 car was shared between 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 Japan's

Aguri Suzuki is a Japanese former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Suzuki entered 88 Formula One Grands Prix, achieving a best result of third at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix, becoming the first Asian driver t ...

. Another Frenchman,

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 ...

, served as the team's test driver. Design-wise, the JS41 bore a striking resemblance to the Benetton B195. At the start of 1995, Ligier was part-owned by Benetton's director,

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 ...

. Briatore transferred 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 ...

engines Ligier had used for the previous three years to Benetton, in turn convincing Mugen to supply Ligier instead of

Minardi Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following ...

. During the season, Briatore sold his shares in Ligier to

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 ...

, Benetton's engineering director. As a result, the JS41 was one of the most competitive Ligiers in years which allowed Brundle and Panis to regularly fight for points in races.

Sponsorship and livery

The JS41 sporting a new dark blue colour instead of light shade blue.

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 ...

was still the team's main sponsor. At the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Grands Prix, the Gitanes text were replaced with a barcode. At the

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championship. It is one of the oldest ...

, the 'gypsy woman' logo was replaced with a man and a French flag along with "Ligier".

Later use

A JS41 was later bought by

Bridgestone is a Japanese multinational manufacturing company founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (18891976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of (), meaning ...

to test the Japanese company's tyres prior to its entry into Formula One in .

Complete Formula One results

( key)

References

1995 Formula One season cars Ligier Formula One cars {{F1-stub