A symbolic reality of French motoring today faces one of the most important and delicate moments of its fascinating history: the team DAMS officially announced the change of ownership of the team after more than thirty years of management of the Driot family, with the latter having sold its team to the former Formula 1 driver Charles Pic. In this way, a long and glorious parenthesis for the transalpine house closes, founded in 1988 by Jean-Paul Driot along with another former F1 driver like René Arnouxwho initially named the team Driot-Arnoux Motorsport. The operation will thus allow the team to continue its stay both in Formula E – the championship in which it entered as Nissan e.dams – and in Formula 2, with the ‘cadet’ championship of the Circus which will start on March 20 in Bahrain.
Meanwhile, the children of Jean-Paul Driot, Olivier and Gregorycommented on the feelings generated by the sale of the family team to Pic, which became necessary to ensure a stable future for the team: “Even if it is with a heavy heart that we are handing over the team – they declared – this is the best way to ensure that the DAMS legacy remains and expands. After the death of our father, we have always aimed to continue managing the team, keeping it going. However, we know that DAMS can excel even more under Charles, and especially with the passionate and loyal people who have worked with us for many years. We hear that our father would have been proud of this next step“.
DAMS are one of the most successful teams to appear on the # RoadToF1 ✨
Now, former F1 driver @ Charles_Pic1 takes over at the helm# F1 @damsracing https://t.co/CuHNaGanrZ
– Formula 1 (@ F1) February 17, 2022
At the same time, Pic – present in F1 in 2012 and 2013 respectively at the wheel of Marussia and Caterham – pointed out of not wanting to change the name of the DAMS, commenting on his new role: “I would like to thank Oliver and Gregory for this great opportunity to continue the story of DAMS – he added – our families have been very close for a long time, as Jean-Paul knew my grandfather, who has supported DAMS pilots in the past such as my godfather Eric Bernard and Olivier Panis, as well as helping me a lot throughout my career. He’s a great honor for me to continue Jean-Paul’s legacy in French motorsport. Now I want to build something with DAMS, and I want to develop a great sporting project. I am thrilled to find and support young talents on their journey to Formula 1. The desire for motorsport has never left me “. Still on the subject of young people, DAMS is one of the realities that has allowed various drivers to grow in the minor categories, taking them up to F1, a class in which the team never participated: in the 90s, it won three Formula One titles 3000 with the French Olivier Panis, Erik Comas and Jean-Christophe Boullion, to then win, later on, two Formula 2 championships with Romain Grosjean and Davide Valsecchi. To these victories, finally, are added other affirmations such as those of Kevin Magnussen and Carlos Sainz, both triumphant in Formula Renault 3.5.
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