It was some surprise when Hesnault was drafted into the Ligier team in 1984, for his credentials showed only a single second-place finish in a round of the previous year's European F3 championship. However, the Frenchman acquitted himself respectably enough, sometimes proving more than a match for his team-mate Andrea de Cesaris, particularly at Dijon.

    A move to Brabham in 1985 proved a big let-down, with a shaken Hesnault leaving the team after being lucky to escape injury in a massive testing accident at Paul Ricard. He did, however, reappear later in the season, at the wheel of a Renault which was acting as a camera car in the German Grand Prix.

(c) 'Who is Who' by Steve Small, 2000