The March gearbox from the previous season was discarded in favour of an X-trac unit,[4] and the front suspension was revised.

[2] Ligier's lead driver from the previous season, René Arnoux, remained with the team and alongside him was new recruit Olivier Grouillard.

Ligier finished 13th equal in the World Constructors' Championship with three points, an improvement on the previous year.

[5] With more cars than spaces available on the grid, some teams had to enter pre-qualifying in order to be allowed to participate in qualifying proper.

With neither driver scoring points by the midpoint of the season, Ligier was relegated to having to pre-qualify from the German Grand Prix.