There is something magical about the late 1980s and early 1990s about the Formula One. I usually describe it as the power outcome of the last victory of the real Turbo engine era. I would almost describe it as a mythical being. That appeared after the last Turbo engine sang it’s song on Australian soil. As if Napoleon was raising from the Gitanes ashes of the 1970s and 1980s. Echoing a time the French tried to revive. The time when Delage’s dominated the circuits in the 1920, when Talbot did what others didn’t in the 1950s.
The heydays of Matra in the 1960s and the heydays of Ligier in the 1970s. Let’s not forget the technical warfare Renault started with the Turbo Engine! It was time for the French revolution in the early 1990s! The revolution that failed.
To add some content to this article, this goes mainly about the French Formula One teams that appeared on the grid during those interesting days. As well, the amount of news that came out about French team ready to debut in the Formula One. Such as Peugeot who came close. The numerous attempts that were doomed from the start. It was an interesting era, a French revolution if you ask me! Obviously, later with Renault buying the Benetton team the glorious days returned in 2004 and 2005, only to be destroyed by Piquet Junior in Valencia.
It is 1989 when the Formula One is racing, since a decade, with only atmospheric engines. The Formula One became less complicated, and much cheaper. At that time, there are three French Grand Prix teams on the grid. Équipe Ligier who had suffered badly after Renault left the Formula One at the end of 1986. The Larrousse team who showed in the previous two years they could become a serious threat on the grid. The last one is AGS the small team from Henri Julien who didn’t do a bad job either.
However, the first signs of the French revolution shown was in early 1988. When the announcement came from the ATMOS team. One of the people behind it was Jean-Francois Mosnier. Who at that time controlled the operation for Lola in the Formula 3000. However, this project was shelved in December 1988 due to the lack of proper funding and it seems the lack of time. Somehow, this was also the resurrection of the W12 engine, the French MGN company from Guy Negre and Life came with an engine. Once in the 1920s the W12 engine was popular.
It is 1990 where the Revolutions seems to accelerate, with Jean-Marie Balestre still standing strong as FISA boss. Probably stronger then Bernie was at that time. Overwhelmed by the ELF petroleum and oil smells, and still smoked by Gitanes while Gauloises was on it’s way. The year when the first stories start to be told about French teams and groups ready to debut in the Formula One. The first cracks start to appear as well. Sadly, for Henri Julien his AGS is lacking the funding they need to keep on track. In their early days, they did an amazing job. 1990 started badly, 1991 on the other hand would be the last nail in the coffin. With lots of DNQ and DNPQ, the team left the grid.
However, Ligier found it’s way up, and so did Larrousse in some way after one of the owners was accused of murdering his own wife. In 1992 the first rumours started to appear about Peugeot and their switch to Formula One. Though not before Jean-Paul Driot, who was looking into the Formula One as well, tried a cheeky Ligier take-over. Which Guy Ligier did not happen, only to be told in the media he sold his team to another Francois names Frederic Dhainhaut. Dhainhaut was not an unknown figure in the Formula One. From 1986 until 1988 he managed the French AGS team before he left for the French Larrousse team which he left in 1992. Only to announce he wanted to enter the Formula One with his own team.
Frederic would have been capable to run his own team in the Formula One. The issue was only that due to the financial crisis around the globe he was unable to find enough money to do so.
Summer of 1992. Bernie Ecclestone, who was now the F1 Supremo asked Frederic if he was willing to manage a new team that would debut in 1992. The Andrea Moda team from Andrea Sassetti. He eventually left the team due to mismanagement and the mentality that no one cared his idea’s and opinions.
It was not his last attempt to appear in the Formula One. In the summer of 1992 he was quoted by Autosport that he raised the funds for a Formula One team in 1993. Thanks to Rhône-Poulenc. There was assumable a deal made with Brian Hart to use it’s engines and it seems Lola or Dallara was reached for a chassis. To make it completed, he tried to buy the old assets of the AGS team while he also showed interest in the Brabham assets. While Dhainhaut would not have his own team (later became manager at Minardi), Peugeot was pushing their plans to debut in 1993. Publishing a concept of how the car would look like. Well, it was more Jean Todt’s dream to have Peugeot in the Formula One. Perhaps like in the early days of Autosport.
At that time, Peugeot was very competitive in the rallying and Sportscar, the same time the company had developed a 3,5L V10 engine, which could be used in the Formula One. However, they had so far no purpose for it. Enrique Scalabroni already designed a car for Peugeot at that time. It is around this point that Jean Todt announced that he would take the roll as new Team Manager for Ferrari. Some saw in Jean Todt the next general, which he eventually would become at Ferrari and later within in the FIA.
However, the French Revolution was not yet dead. In 1993 there was another group of enthusiasts who were working on their Formula One dream. The French Formula 3 team called FPE (Formula Project Engineering). Their goal was to reach the Formula One before 1998 as an all-French Formula One team. They failed to reach their goal; they did managed to launch the career of Stephan Grégoire!
It is not the end of the story yet! At this time, a law was passed in the French Government that forbid Tobacco sponsorship in the country. It had a huge impact! The same time Guy Ligier sold his team to Cyril de Rouvre, which is an interest person on it’s own. Only a year after he purchased the team, he sold it to Flavio Briatore who made it Benetton’s Junior or B-team. Their JS41 was an exact copy of the Benetton! How about Cyril? Well, he persuaded a career in the politics and encountered his second time being investigated for fraud.
Yet, this was not the end of the French revolution. In 1993, Jean-Paul Driot who was the owner of DAMS announced that his team would debut in 1994.With their own design! It was not exactly their own design; it was based on the unraced Reynard design both Benetton and Pacific had used! Their debut was postponed to 1994, only to announce their plan was to debut in 1995. When the car was for the first time shown and “tested” at the Bugatti circuit. Eventually Jean Messaoudi and Laurent Barlesi appeared on the radar as they were planning to bring their Junior F1 Team to the grid. They even appeared on the entry list as the Larrousse Junior Team thogh never made it. It was easily known that the French Formula One revolution had failed. It was Flavio Briatore who made Renault a World Champion only to destroy that years later.
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