Prost JS45

The Prost JS45 was the Formula One racing car with which the Prost team competed in the 1997 Formula One season, and the first Prost-badged car following Alain Prost's acquisition of Ligier in February 1997.

The acquisition of Ligier from Flavio Briatore by Prost, and its subsequent renaming after him, marked the end of the Ligier name in F1 after involvement in the sport since 1976. However, the car had been designed and built beforehand, and so retained its Ligier designation of JS45. Also retained were Mugen Honda engines and Gauloises sponsorship, though the team opted for Bridgestone tyres in the Japanese's company's first year of F1.

The original lead driver was Olivier Panis, who had driven for Ligier since 1994, while in the second seat Prost signed Japanese rookie Shinji Nakano, largely due to pressure from Mugen.^[1]

In the first six races of the season, the car proved extremely promising. The problems of braking and pitch sensitivity with the previous year's Ligier JS43 had been largely solved, and this, allied with Panis' skill and the durability of the Bridgestones, enabled the French driver to finish fifth in Australia, third in Brazil, fourth in Monaco and then second in Spain, just six seconds behind eventual World Champion Jacques Villeneuve. These results put him third in the Drivers' Championship, and after the Spanish Grand Prix Villeneuve said that he regarded Panis as one of his main threats for the rest of the season.

However, a suspected suspension failure or puncture caused Panis to crash heavily into a concrete wall at the very next race in Canada, breaking both his legs and putting him out of action for the next seven Grands Prix. Nonetheless, the car remained competitive due to Panis' replacement Jarno Trulli, who had been recruited from Minardi. Trulli finished fourth in Germany before leading the first half of the Austrian Grand Prix after qualifying third, and these achievements impressed Prost enough for him to sign the Italian full-time for 1998. Panis returned for the final three races of the season and picked up one final point for sixth in his first race back, at the Nürburgring.

The inexperienced Nakano, meanwhile, proved solid if not spectacular, scoring two points for sixth places at Canada (after the race was stopped following Panis' crash) and Hungary. However, he did not retain his seat for 1998, as Panis stayed on alongside Trulli and the team took on Peugeot engines, swapping with Jordan.

At the end of the season, Panis was tenth in the Drivers' Championship with 16 points, while Trulli was 16th with his three points from Germany and Nakano was 19th with his two (though all three were later promoted a place following Michael Schumacher's exclusion from the standings). With a total of 21 points, Prost placed sixth in the Constructors' Championship.

Complete Formula One results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Points	WCC
1997	Prost	Mugen Honda V10	B		AUS	BRA	ARG	SMR	MON	ESP	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	AUT	LUX	JPN	EUR	21	6th
				Olivier Panis	5	3	Ret	8	4	2	11								6	Ret	7
				Jarno Trulli								10	8	4	7	15	10	Ret
				Shinji Nakano	7	14	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	6	Ret	11	7	6	Ret	11	Ret	Ret	Ret	10

References

AUTOCOURSE 1997-98, Henry, Alan (ed.), Hazleton Publishing Ltd. (1997) ISBN 1-874557-47-0

↑ http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/nakano/biography.html[]

Prost Grand Prix

Founder Alain Prost Notable personnel Bernard Dudot Loïc Bigois John Barnard Drivers Olivier Panis Jarno Trulli Nick Heidfeld Jean Alesi Heinz-Harald Frentzen Gastón Mazzacane Luciano Burti Tomáš Enge Shinji Nakano Formula One cars JS45 AP01 AP02 AP03 AP04

Cars that competed in the 1997 Formula One season

Williams FW19 Ferrari F310B Benetton B197 McLaren MP4/12 Jordan 197 Prost JS45 Sauber C16 Arrows A18 Stewart SF01 Tyrrell 025 Minardi M197 Lola T97/30

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