On this day: Olivier Panis recorded his sole victory in F1

Not a single driver had won the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix from lower than eighth on the grid until 1996. However, it all changed today (May 19) and in the year 1996 as French team Ligier recorded their first triumph in 15 years. The hero of the day was Frenchman Olivier Panis who recorded his inaugural Formula 1 win. He started 14th on a grid of 22, going on to record a heroic win in a car that was termed handy but top of the midfield at best.

Panis was confident about delivering a good performance on the morning of race day, as the rain came crashing down.

“I said to my wife, ‘I’ll finish on the podium today. Yeah, yeah. I think you’re crazy, you’re starting 14th in Monaco!,” he says in an interaction with the official website of Formula 1.

“I said: ‘Yeah, but it’s raining, and you never know what is going to happen! I believed in it. I just convinced myself it was possible,” added Panis.

“People thought we didn’t have much fuel”

Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were considered the favourites going into the race. Panis went quickest in the warm-up, which failed to influence the judgement of people with regard to his potential as a contender for the podium.

“When I did the best lap time in warm up, people thought we didn’t have much fuel in the car. Even Flavio [Briatore, who had acquired the team and signed Panis] came to see us. ‘How many kilos did you have in the car?’ We told him the number. He said: ‘You have the right fuel for the strategy, this is unbelievable! We knew we had the pace. When you start 14th in Monaco, anything can happen, anything is possible,” he states.

The car was sent back to Japan after the triumph for display.

“We were competitive. I could feel it. The car was amazing. Mugen-Honda sent the car, with my overalls, helmet and gloves, by plane to Japan. They then rebuilt it and put it on display. I had a brand new car for the next race. I did get to see it again until three years ago, though, when we got together for a big party to celebrate the 20th anniversary of that win,” he said.

“It was a completely crazy race and one that I will never, ever, forget,” concluded the former racer.