My race engineer started crying, because he knew we were quick, and he felt our chance was lost. We didn’t care about anything else in that moment. But they managed it.”It wasn’t plain sailing once he was in the lead, though. The highlight of the season was a ninth-place finish in The following year saw an improvement for the partnership. It was inspired, as the strategy vaulted him up to fourth.“We were competitive,” he says. I didn’t use sixth gear, I didn’t push each gear on the upshift.“I know David Coulthard was chasing me but when he got close, I pushed a bit more to show him there was no way he was passing me.“I said to Flavio and the guys, ‘if I’ve made a mistake [by not pitting], I’ll take the responsibility to say I’m stupid. “It was funny.”The Frenchman was on the main table, along with Prince Rainier and Princess Stephanie. I think you’re crazy, you’re starting 14th in Monaco!’After the birth of my kids, this was the best day of my life“I said: ‘Yeah, but it’s raining, and you never know what is going to happen! It was a big night, a messy night. He was also considered by the likes of Häkkinen, who was particularly upset when Panis left the McLaren testing team to return to full-time driving, to be one of the best test-drivers in the field.

Oliver Panis …

Olivier Panis, the last Frenchman to have won an F1 race, it was in 1996… Monaco, would also have preferred to be on the Rock this Sunday instead of in his home near Grenoble. And while cars slid into the barriers – like Schumacher – or succumbed to mechanical failures – like Gerhard Berger – Panis quietly went about his business, passing seven cars.The challenge was to judge the crossover perfectly, and swap to slicks. Even when Panis went quickest in warm up, Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill, who locked out the front row, were favourites.“When I did the best lap time in warm up, people thought we didn’t have much fuel in the car,” says Panis.“Even Flavio [Briatore, who had acquired the team and signed Panis] came to see us. “I could see my car on the TV screens as I drove by,” he says.“And I could see how much support I had. I believed in it. If they tell you otherwise, they’re fibbing. “Monaco, I love to go there. Achieving the feat is not easy, especially if you’re starting 14th on a grid of 22, in a car that is handy but top of the midfield at best.But when Panis drew the curtains in his hotel room on the morning of race day and saw the rain bucketing it down – so hard a support race that morning was abandoned – he had the feeling it was going to be a good day.“I said to my wife, ‘I’ll finish on the podium today’,” he says, as we speak ahead of the F1 Rewind screening of the 1996 Monaco GP. Eddie and I have a lot of respect for each other. “Mugen-Honda sent the car, with my overalls, helmet and gloves, by plane to Japan. I was a Grand Prix winner, it’s a big thing.”As is tradition for the race winner, Panis and his wife Anne were invited to the dinner hosted by Prince Rainier that night. Olivier Panis on his incredible 1996 Monaco Grand Prix triumph, the first from below ninth on the grid, Ligier's first in 15 years and his first and only F1 Grand Prix victory I just convinced myself it was possible.”Even with the rain belting it down, no one was considering Ligier and Panis as contenders for the podium, let alone the race victory. There were some moments where it was very close. ... Watch highlights from the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix as only four cars finish the race with Ligier's Olivier Panis claiming his only F1 victory. “I could feel it. He knew if he did that, the race would be lost. 'I should have taken more risks' says Norris after P10 finish in SpainCould Verstappen have won in Spain had Red Bull repeated their Silverstone tyre gamble?Beating Schumacher’s podium record ‘far beyond what I dreamed’ says HamiltonPADDOCK PASS: All the reaction from the drivers after the Spanish Grand PrixEvery driver wants to win the Monaco Grand Prix.