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| Born | (1956-12-30)30 December 1956 (age 68) Neuilly-sur-Seine,Hauts-de-Seine, France |
|---|---|
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  French |
| Active years | 1984–1985 |
| Teams | Ligier,Brabham,Renault |
| Entries | 21 (19 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1984 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1985 German Grand Prix |
François Hesnault (born 30 December 1956) is a formerracing driver fromFrance. He participated in 21Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 25 March 1984. He scored no championship points.[1]
Hesnault was born to a wealthy family who owned a large transport business. He did his military service in the French parachute corps and was involved in action in West Africa. Hesnault made his racing debut competing in theFrench Formula Renault in 1980. He enjoyed some success in theFrench Formula Three Championship, finishing third in the series with two race victories in 1982 and second in 1983 with five race wins and battledMichel Ferté for the series title that he lost out by two points.[2][3] Hesnault competed in the24 Hours of Le Mans twice, firstly in1982 and again in1983.[4]
The Frenchman debuted in Formula One in the1984 season withLigier, with a best result of 7th at theDutch Grand Prix. For the1985 season, he was hired to beNelson Piquet's teammate atBrabham, but he was sacked after four uncompetitive races. He returned for a one-off at theGerman Grand Prix in a thirdRenault which carried a prototypeonboard camera, making it the first use of this technology in a Grand Prix. This is also the last race in which three cars have been entered for the same team (current third drivers are not eligible to compete in the races). After this race, Hesnault retired from motor racing, having suffered a particularly heavy crash in testing atCircuit Paul Ricard shortly before parting company with Brabham.[1][3]
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Ligier Loto | LigierJS23 | RenaultV6 (t/c) | BRA Ret | RSA 10 | BEL Ret | SMR Ret | FRA DNS | MON Ret | CAN Ret | DET Ret | DAL Ret | GBR Ret | GER 8 | AUT 8 | NED 7 | ITA Ret | EUR 10 | POR Ret | NC | 0 |
| 1985 | Motor Racing Developments | BrabhamBT54 | BMWS4 (t/c) | BRA Ret | POR Ret | SMR Ret | MON DNQ | CAN | DET | FRA | GBR | NC | 0 | ||||||||
| Equipe RenaultElf | RenaultRE60 | RenaultV6 (t/c) | GER Ret | AUT | NED | ITA | BEL | EUR | RSA | AUS | |||||||||||
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 |  C. Haldi | Claude Haldi Rodrigo Terran | Porsche 934/5 | Gr.5 SP | 141 | DNF | DNF |
| 1983 | A.S. École Supérieure de Tourisme | Thierry Perrier Bernard Salam | Lancia LC1 | Gr.C | 133 | NC | NC |
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