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| Base | Vélizy-Villacoublay,Paris, France |
|---|---|
| Teamprincipal(s) | Jean-Luc Lagardère |
| Founder(s) | Jean-Luc Lagardère Marcel Chassagny |
| Noted staff | Gérard Ducarouge Ken Tyrrell Bernard Boyer |
| Noted drivers |  Johnny Servoz-GavinHenri Pescarolo Jackie StewartJean-Pierre Beltoise Chris Amon |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| First entry | 1967 Monaco Grand Prix |
| Races entered | 61 |
| Engines | Ford, Matra |
| Constructors' Championships | 1 (1969) |
| Drivers' Championships | 1 (1969) |
| Race victories | 9 |
| Podiums | 21 |
| Points | 163 |
| Pole positions | 4 |
| Fastest laps | 12 |
| Final entry | 1972 United States Grand Prix |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
|---|---|
| First entry | 1968 Monaco Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix |
| Races entered | 126 (125 starts) |
| Chassis | Matra,Shadow,Ligier |
| Constructors' Championships | 0 |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 |
| Race victories | 3 |
| Podiums | 24 |
| Points | 173 |
| Pole positions | 4 |
| Fastest laps | 5 |
TheMatra Company's racing team, under the names ofMatra Sports,Equipe Matra Elf andEquipe Matra Sports (after a takeover bySimca in 1969 asMatra-Simca Division Automobile), was formed in 1965 and based atChampagne-sur-Seine (1965–1967),Romorantin-Lanthenay (1967–1969) andVélizy-Villacoublay (1969–1979). In 1979 the team was taken over byPeugeot and renamed asAutomobiles Talbot.[1]
In the mid-1960s, Matra enjoyed considerable success inFormula 3 andF2 racing, particularly with theMS5 monocoque-based car, winning the French and European championships. In1967,Jacky Ickx surprised the F1 establishment by posting the third-fastest qualifying time of 8:14" at the GermanNürburgring in his 1600ccMatra MS7 F2, which was allowed to enter alongside the 3000ccF1 cars. In the race, he failed to finish due to a broken suspension.[2]
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Matra enteredFormula One in1968 whenJackie Stewart was a serious contender, winning several Grands Prix in theTyrrell-runMatra MS10 which competed alongside theworks team.
The F1 team was established atVélizy-Villacoublay in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France.[3] The car's most innovative feature was the use of aviation-inspired structural fuel tanks. These allowed the chassis to be around 15 kg (33 lb) lighter, while still being stronger than its competitors. TheFIA considered the technology to be unsafe and decided to ban it for1970.
MatraCEOJean-Luc Lagardère made a strategic decision for the1969 championship: the Matraworks team would not compete in Formula One. Matra would instead focus its efforts onKen Tyrrell'sprivateer team (renamedMatra International) and build a newFordCosworthDFV-powered car with structural fuel tanks, even though it would only be eligible for a single season. The decision was even more radical given that Matra was seeking a partnership withSimca, which would preclude usingFord-branded engines for the following year. Stewart won the 1969 title easily with the newCosworth-poweredMatra MS80 car, which was designed byGérard Ducarouge andBernard Boyer,[4] and corrected most of the weaknesses of the MS10 car.
The 1969 World Drivers' and Constructors' Championship titles were the first titles won by a French constructor, and still remain the only titles won by a car built in France[5] as well as a car entered by a privateer team. It was a spectacular achievement from a constructor that had only entered Formula One the previous year. France became only the third country (after theUnited Kingdom andItaly) to have produced awinning constructor, and Matra became the only constructor to have won the Constructors' Championship without running its own works team.
LikeCosworth,Lotus andMcLaren, Matra experimented withfour wheel drive during the 1969 season.Johnny Servoz-Gavin became the one and only driver to score a point with a 4WD car, finishing sixth with theMatra MS84 at theCanadian Grand Prix. The MS84, along withBrabham'sBT26A, was one of the lastspaceframe cars to compete in Formula One.
For1970 following the agreement withSimca, Matra asked Tyrrell to use theirMatra Sports V12 engine rather than the Cosworth. Stewart got to test Matra's V12, but since a large part of the Tyrrell budget was provided byFord, and another significant sponsor was French state-owned petroleum companyElf, which had an agreement withRenault that precluded supporting a Simca partner, the partnership between Matra and Tyrrell ended.
Matra V12s powered theShadowDN7 car in two races of the1975 season and then cars built and entered by theLigier Formula 1 team from1976–1978, and again (under the nameTalbot Ligier)[6] from1981-1982, winning three races (the1977 Swedish Grand Prix,1981 Austrian Grand Prix and1981 Canadian Grand Prix).Jacques Laffite´s victory at the 1977 Swedish Grand Prix was the first Formula One victory for aFrench-licensed team[7] and a French engine, as well as the first all-French victory in the Formula One World Championship.[8]
The company was also successful inendurance racing with cars powered by their V12 engine. Thesportscar racing team was based at first atVélizy-Villacoublay and then moved toLe Castellet, nearMarseille, France.[9]
TheMatra MS670sports prototype won the24 Hours of Le Mans in1972,1973, and1974. It also delivered theWorld Championship for Makes to Matra in both1973 and1974 seasons.
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| Preceded by | Formula One Constructors' Champion 1969 | Succeeded by |
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