1995 Formula One World Championship

Drivers and constructors

Background

Team changes

• At the end of the 1994 season, Team Lotus left F1 after 36 years in the sport, winning 6 Drivers' and 7 Constructors' Championships, with the team ceasing operations in January 1995. Shortly before the team closed doors, the team's assets were bought by David Hunt, brother of 1976 Formula One champion James Hunt, who later announced that the Lotus name would be used by Pacific Grand Prix under the name Pacific Team Lotus.
• The Larrousse team, with drivers Éric Bernard and Christophe Bouchut, failed to turn up for any of the on-track sessions. With French government aid not forthcoming, the team ran out of money. And with a 1995 chassis not yet built, team owner Gérard Larrousse elected to miss the first two rounds of the season in the hope of competing from the San Marino Grand Prix onwards. No funding ever arrived and it was too late for them to build a car for the season. There were talks with the DAMS Formula 3000 team, but Jean-Paul Driot, boss of DAMS, wanted to buy Larrousse and run the team themselves. After a sponsor deal with Malaysian oil company Petronas also fell through, Driot announced on 13 February that they had abandoned plans to enter F1 for 1995. He intended to return to Formula 3000 and prepare for an F1 bid in.
• Formula 3000 team Forti made the step up to Formula One, with their Forti FG01 being the last F1 car to use a manual gearbox.
• The status and the ownership of Ligier was under scrutiny. When Martin Brundle signed with them for 1995, rumours spread that Tom Walkinshaw would take up the function of team boss, since Brundle and Walkinshaw had many successful collaborations in the past. Walkinshaw worked for Benetton in as Engineering Director), but when that team was found to use an illegal fuel filter at the German Grand Prix, they were let off the hook, after promising to fire Walkinshaw and implementing major changes within the team. On the side of Benetton, this deal was negotiated by Flavio Briatore. However, since he was also the owner of Ligier, it seemed more like a promotion for Walkinshaw, albeit with a smaller team. Furthermore, rivals compared the Ligier JS41 to the Benetton B195, the only apparent difference being the engine in each car. Commenting on the design similarities, Walkinshaw said:
• The 1995 season saw a major reshuffle among the engine suppliers: Benetton ended their 7-year association with Ford Motor Company by switching to the Renault RS7 engines. The contract with Ford was taken up by Sauber and they parted ways with long time partner Mercedes-Benz. McLaren then offered a new home for the Mercedes engine supplier, ending their relationship with Peugeot after just one season. Jordan took on the Peugeot engine deal, replacing their Hart contract. And so, finally, the Hart company moved teams to Footwork Arrows. After four years as an independent engine supplier, Ilmor eventually shifted focus to trusted engine designer, builder, assembler and tuner to Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines despite the partnership started from 1994 season onwards.
• Pacific Racing replaced their 1993-spec Ilmor engines for customer Ford EDC engines.
• Minardi had been expected to run with Mugen-Honda engines, but at the last minute, Ligier boss Flavio Briatore persuaded the Japanese engine supplier to supply his team, leaving Minardi in a mess. Their M195 was designed for the Mugen-Honda V10 and parts were already being made. The team then had to work flat out to build a brand new car with a Ford ED engine, tuned by Magneti Marelli. Team owner Giancarlo Minardi announced he was taking legal action against the Japanese supplier.
• The Simtek team went bankrupt on 1 June, after the fifth race of the season.

  Driver changes

• On 28 October 1994, Ligier issued a press release stating that Olivier Panis and Johnny Herbert were going to be their official drivers for all of the 1995 season. However, at the end of January, they announced that Herbert was no longer at the team, joining Benetton instead, and that Aguri Suzuki and Martin Brundle would share the second seat. The announcement came as a big shock to Suzuki and his Japanese backers, who believed he had secured the Ligier seat for the whole season. During his "off" races, Brundle joined veteran commentator Murray Walker in the BBC commentary box. They later became commentators for ITV, after Brundle retired from F1 in, and Brundle is now working for Sky Sports F1 alongside David Croft.
• After Ayrton Senna's passing, his seat at Williams had alternated between Nigel Mansell and David Coulthard. Mansell left the team at the beginning of January and Coulthard was offered a full-time drive.
• Mika Salo replaced Mark Blundell at Tyrrell, with Gabriele Tarquini now the team's test driver. Before being confirmed as race driver, Salo was involved in a contract dispute with the Pacific team. He had raced for Team Lotus in and was thought to be free when the team withdrew, until new owner David Hunt coupled the name with the Pacific team and insisted Salo was obliged to race for them. The Contract Recognition Board lawyers and Tyrrell representatives were astounded by Hunt, but announced on 13 February that it had ruled in favour of Tyrrell, because the Team Lotus which Salo had signed for was not the same Team Lotus which now claimed his services. Salo was unveiled as Tyrrell driver later that evening when they unveiled their 1995 car.
• Mark Blundell replaced fellow countryman Martin Brundle at McLaren. However, Nigel Mansell was in the McLaren seat from the San Marino Grand Prix. He had already been confirmed at the team when he left Williams, but he could not fit in the car. His deal was also dropped from $15 million to $10 million because Marlboro refused to pay his asking price. Mansell said that the 1995 season would almost certainly be his last in Formula One.
• Simtek brought in Jos Verstappen from Benetton instead of Hideki Noda, who was scheduled to be the team's first driver, but was not able to race, after the Great Hanshin earthquake resulted in a lack of personal funds, and was therefore relegated to share the second drive with Domenico Schiattarella. Noda ended up not driving for the team at all, as they went bankrupt after the Monaco round.
• New team Forti brought in veteran Roberto Moreno along with rookie Pedro Diniz. Diniz was partly selected as his family controls one of Brazil's largest food distribution companies.
• Christian Fittipaldi was replaced by Taki Inoue at Footwork.
• Pacific replaced Paul Belmondo with Andrea Montermini.
• Minardi replaced Michele Alboreto with Luca Badoer.

  Mid-season changes

• Going into the Monaco Grand Prix, McLaren replaced Nigel Mansell with test driver Mark Blundell. At the same time, Karl Wendlinger's seat at Sauber was given to Williams test driver and reigning International Formula 3000 champion Jean-Christophe Boullion.
• From the British Grand Prix on, Footwork replaced Gianni Morbidelli with International Formula 3000 driver Massimiliano Papis, citing sponsorship reasons. Morbidelli would eventually return for the final three races of the season. Before that same weekend, Bertrand Gachot stepped away from driving duties with Pacific. The seat was temporarily filled by Giovanni Lavaggi and Jean-Denis Delétraz. The team tried to hire Katsumi Yamamoto and Oliver Gavin, but they were not granted their Super Licences, and Gachot returned for the last three races.
• Minardi replaced Pierluigi Martini with Pedro Lamy from the Hungarian Grand Prix onwards.
• After having done two years of touring car racing, Gabriele Tarquini made a one-off return to F1 when he filled in for Ukyo Katayama at the European Grand Prix, as the Japanese was still recovering from neck injuries and severe bruising sustained during a crash at the previous round in Portugal.
• Jan Magnussen was promoted from test driver at McLaren to replace Mika Häkkinen for the Pacific Grand Prix, due to the Finn suffering from appendicitis.