Larrousse

Interesting facts

The team was founded in 1987 by former racing driver Gérard Larrousse and Didier Calmels, based in Antony, a suburb south of Paris, initially racing as Larrousse & Calmels. After Calmels was imprisoned in 1989, the team simply continued under the Larrousse name alone. The squad ran Lola-designed chassis from 1987 to 1991, switched to a Venturi chassis in 1992, and moved to its own in-house LH-series designs from 1993. Aguri Suzuki claimed the team's only podium in 1990 at the Japanese Grand Prix, finishing third, the high point of Larrousse's eight seasons in Formula One. The team was pushed into financial crisis by the withdrawal of Japanese backers and by French tobacco-advertising bans that cut off compensation it had relied on. With mounting debts and no funding, Larrousse withdrew before the 1995 season, ending its run in Formula One. Larrousse raced in Formula 1 from 1987 to 1994, across 8 seasons as a French team. The team scored a total of 22 constructors' championship points.