Former Formula 1 driver Charles Pic has acquired ownership of the DAMS squad that currently competes in Formula 2 and Formula E series.
Charles Pic, a former Marussia and Caterham Formula One driver, will take over ownership of leading Formula 2 team and Nissan’s current Formula E partner, DAMS.
DAMS was founded in 1988 by Jean-Paul Driot, and following his death in 2019, his sons Olivier and Gregory took over the management of the team.
Charles Pic is a personal friend to the Driot family and will now take over as the team owner.
“I would like to thank Oliver and Grégory for this great opportunity to continue the DAMS story,” Pic said.
“Our families have been very close for a long time.”
“As Jean-Paul knew my grandfather, who has supported DAMS drivers in the past like my godfather Eric Bernard [45 F1 starts] and Olivier Panis [1996 Monaco GP winner], and he also helped me a lot during my career.”
“This is a huge honour for me to continue Jean-Paul’s legacy in French motorsport.”
Pic gained F1 graduation with the Marussia squad for the 2012 season after two years in GP2. His best finish was 12th in the Brazilian Grand Prix season finale, where he lost out to Caterham’s Vitaly Petrov in a close battle for 11th place – a result that dropped Marussia to 10th place in the constructors’ championship.
Pic joined Caterham for the 2013 season, but, like his teammate Giedo van der Garde, he was unable to collect a point as Caterham fell to 11th place behind Marussia.
During his tenure with Lotus in 2014 as the reserve driver, Pic became the first to sample 18-inch wheels during a demonstration run, ahead of their introduction in 2022.
DAMS is renowned for its Formula 2 (GP2 previously) and now-defunct World Series Formula Renault 3.5 programmes and has trained the likes of Romain Grosjean, Kevin Magnussen, Carlos Sainz and Alexander Albon towards success in their Formula One careers.
In addition, the team assisted Renault in winning the first three Formula E team championships, as well as Sebastien Buemi winning the 2015-16 driver title. Since the team’s transformation into Nissan e.dams in 2018, it has remained a partner.
