‘Panis Racing is above all a human adventure. With TDS Racing, Xavier Combet and Jacques Morello, we all share the same philosophy of sport, with a desire to pass on, to support the youth and to give back what we've got.’
Formule 1 carrer : 158 GP
1 victory, 5 podiums
4 starts in 24h of Le Mans
1981-1993: His debut - Like most of the drivers Olivier Panis made his competition debut in 1981 in a kart when he was still an adolescent. In 1988, he moved on and began his single-seater career. He raced in the French Formula Renault Championship, which he won in his second year. After two successful seasons in the French Formula 3 Championship (4th in 1990 and 2nd in 1991), he competed in the International Formula 3000 Series winning the title in 1993.
1994-1996: Ligier - His F3000 title opened the doors of Formula 1 to him in 1994 with the French Ligier team. He came second in the German Grand Prix. The following year, Panis clinched another second place in the Australian Grand Prix and finished in eighth place in the F1 world championship driver ratings. In 1996, he drove the race of his life scoring a historic victory in the Monaco Grand Prix, the first for the Ligier team for 15 years.
1997-1999: Prost Grand Prix - In 1997 he began the season driving for the Prost team (in fact, the new name of Ligier). He confirmed his potential with third place in the Brazilian Grand Prix and second in Spain. After six races he was lying third in the world championship classification behind Schumacher and
Villeneuve. He tackled the Canadian GP full of confidence, but a serious accident in the closing stages of the race brought his rise to a brutal halt. After a long period of convalescence, he made his comeback in the Luxembourg Grand Prix in which he finished sixth.
2000-2001: McLaren - He teamed up with Belgian manager, Didier Coton, which opened up new horizons and he joined the McLaren-Mercedes team as a test driver.
2001-2002: British American Racing - He found a seat in 2001 as he was chosen by the BAR-Honda squad alongside Jacques Villeneuve.
2003-2006: Toyota F1 - Olivier joined Toyota with which he raced in his last grand prix in Japan. He then took on the role of test driver. On 18th September 2006 aged 40 he announced that he was putting an end to his career in F1.
2008-2011: LMS, ILMC, 24 hours of Le Mans - He continued racing at the top level and led the Oreca-Matmut team’s attack in the Le Mans Series, the ILMC and the 24 hours of Le Mans. He won the Sebring 12 Hours in a Peugeot 908 HDI FAP with Nicolas Lapierre and Loïc Duval as teammates.
2010 - 2015: French GT Championship - He shared a car with Eric Debard in the French GT Championship for six seasons and in 2015, Fabien Barthez completed the line-up.
2005 - 2024 : Andros Trophy - Olivier Panis has been racing in Andros Trophy in Elite Pro and in 2019, he won the final at the Stade de France associated with his son Aurelien.
Since 2016, he has been Team Principal of Panis Racing. With his partner Stéphane Dilouya, they will be taking part in their 9th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After eight years with Tech1 Racing, led by Sarah and Simon Abadie, they now share the adventure of the ELMS and Le Mans event with TDS Racing.