2021 Formula One French Grand Prix

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Which team will score the most points in France?


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Welcome to the 2021 Formula One French Grand Prix from Paul Ricard.

The French Grand Prix has been held at 16 different venues since the inaugural event took place well over a century ago in 1906. This weekend Formula One returns to France for the 89th edition of the event.

Paul Ricard was of course originally built as a test circuit, rather than for Grand Prix racing, and is renowned for having as many as 167 track configurations. (Of course very few of these are actually suitable for Grand Prix racing.) The track is not one of the most popular on the calendar amongst fans, but a close championship thus far will no doubt make the weekend that little bit more important, and hopefully more exciting.

What will be interesting to see is how the teams fare, with the last two races being held at street circuits, and perhaps less representative of everyone's true pace. It will be a big weekend for title rivals Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, who both failed to score points in Baku. The former after a tyre failure while the Dutch driver led the race, and caused a red flag. The latter after a mistake into turn one when the race was restarted.

The weather this weekend is forecast to be hot and cloudy, but with a small chance of rain on race day. Mercedes have historically been very strong at Paul Ricard, but strong performances from Red Bull make them contenders this weekend. We also shouldn't rule out a surprise on Saturday, with Charles Leclerc having taken pole at the last two weekends, albeit in unusual circumstances.

The favourites will be the usual faces from this season in Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Sergio Perez will no doubt be looking to keep up the good form he found in Baku, taking his first race victory for Red Bull, and impressively becoming the first driver to win for multiple teams in the hybrid era. Valtteri Bottas will look to make the most of a new chassis this weekend, as he hopes to end the spell of bad luck that has plagued his start to the season. Interestingly chassis number six is the one that Lewis Hamilton drove to victory in Bahrain, Portugal and Spain.

Let us know what you're looking forward to about this weekend, and don't forget to vote in this week's poll!
About author
Charlie Lockwood
23. Motorsport and Sim Racing enthusiast.

Comments

As much as MB has won, one thing no one ever talks about is how skanky their pit stops are. RB has always been tip top in pit stops. MB never had to care about them because they were always so far ahead. Toto needs to have a "come to jesus" with the pit crew because there are no givens this season.
 
Let's see what qualification will bring this afternoon. Back to 'usual predication' or a shuffled grid?
Hopefully the last option. Enjoy the race weekend despite this track is not very favorable. Still an important race with regards to the championship standings.
 
F_B
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Let's see what qualification will bring this afternoon. Back to 'usual predication' or a shuffled grid?
Hopefully the last option. Enjoy the race weekend despite this track is not very favorable. Still an important race with regards to the championship standings.
Imo the track and flow itself is not bad but the lack of any trackside objects and these distracting lines beside the track make it quite dull.
 
The track looks like someone painted some random lines over tescos car park.
Flat and uninspiring.
To drive in-game, at least for me, it’s pretty awesome. Not the best middle sector but the first and last third are really fun. Agree on the looks though. It’s suspect to say the least.
 
Imo the track and flow itself is not bad but the lack of any trackside objects and these distracting lines beside the track make it quite dull.
Always hated those lines.
It must be an absolute nightmare and quite disorienting during recovery from a spin, if you're new to...and the only one on circuit.
Red Bull definately has the best car this season. It is good everywhere on track and very stable compared to the Mercedes.
 
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People forget this track was never designed to be a race venue again.
The track was left to rot years ago and was then turned into a state of the art testing venue with huge miles of run off. Hence the friction lines and tarmac everywhere (I prefer the lines to acres of black in fairness). So yeah it’s a bit of a compromise because a more normal venue would take into account viewing distances rather than the crowd being a mile away. Lol.

However as a track it does produce good racing. The Elms and SRO Gt races were great to watch but for f1 it doesn’t work quite as well. I think that could be because the field is so small now. Also the chicane down the mistral straight is a pain. It breaks the flow and shouldn’t be there. I know it’s there to stop too much stress on the engines and tires but still it stops us from seeing an f1 car max out.
 
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Always hated those lines.
It must be an absolute nightmare and quite disorienting during recovery from a spin, if you're new to...and the only one on circuit.
Red Bull definately has the best car this season. It is good everywhere on track and very stable compared to the Mercedes.
the differences are so small that you can not speak of a better car .. this season. the season is still long. Spain and Portugal the merc was definitely the best car. and.. merc has no more party fashion and dass. luckily but don't find you after 7 years of domination. Lewis likes a challenge. well he has it now. see how he really is now that the car is no longer so dominant.
 
Paul Ricard started, on the thousand hectares of rocky plateau of the Camp between Marseille and Toulon, by building an airfield in 1962 for his business and to serve the west of Var.

The idea then came to create a car circuit and the project was completed in ten months. The first projects, conceived by architects not very familiar with motor sports, were bland and Paul Ricard decided to entrust the drawing of the track to renowned drivers: Henri Pescarolo and Jean-Pierre Beltoise among others, were invited to give their opinion.

In three hundred days, a 5.810 km track was created, including the famous 1,800 m Mistral straight line. The circuit was at the time the reference in terms of layout and safety. After a year of work, the circuit was inaugurated on April 18, 1970. The circuit organizes from 1971 the Grand Prix of France of Formula 1 (until 1990) then, in 1973 the Grand Prix motorcycle. In 1978 the endurance race of 24 hours motorcycle, the Bol d'or is organized.

At the end of the 1980s, under the impetus of President François Mitterrand, a new circuit of international standing was built in the Nièvre, near Nevers. More over, the anti-alcohol legislations are breaking through in the society and the name of Paul Ricard is disturbing. 1990 marks the last edition of the French Formula 1 Grand Prix at Paul Ricard because in 1991 the Nevers Magny-Cours circuit takes over the event. Aged and in financial difficulty, the circuit is no longer up to standards and loses the French Motorcycle Grand Prix in 2000, the Bol d'Or and the organization of the French round of the World Superbike Championship.

The circuit was bought in 1999 by the French company Excelis whose representative is Bernie Ecclestone. The circuit focuses on innovation and technique, and becomes the High Tech Test Track, a circuit exclusively dedicated to testing and development. Philippe Gurdjian launched a development program to make the circuit a cutting-edge, innovative, state-of-the-art model. There are no more spectators but the circuit is finally profitable. It offers 247 different track combinations, the largest of which measures 5.858 km and the shortest 828 m
 
The lines maybe wouldn't be so bad if they were green like fake grass, but a chicane on the Mistral?! "Aaaand another one bites the dust"!.................
 
I like the track as it has long straights which are lacking in tracks today pushing overtaking into the entrance to turns where going of the racing line to get around a car can put you at a disadvantage. Passing is just not considered as much in the design of the track. You need a run up to car and a chance to go round and return to the racing line on a monster straight. Though i disapprove of the painted lines this ifs bad for TV and driver concentration. And i would of like the water sprinklers at the track to be used. Apparently they are against the concord agreement. And i can imagine the simulated wet section would be on a internal club circuit, to small for F1. :ninja:
 
Imo the track and flow itself is not bad but the lack of any trackside objects and these distracting lines beside the track make it quite dull.
You absolutely nailed it, IMO. Have been saying the same since the Paul Ricard revival.

I think the track is - oh boy, please don't yell at me - among the best on the schedule in terms of lapping fun and, despite the absolute stinker of a race a couple years ago, producing racing action.

But the visual effect for the TV audience? Hmm, yeah...a bit odd looking and, indeed, more than a little disorienting for a TV viewer.

I am a little skeptical such an effort would ever be made, but I would love for them to put some effort into cleaning up the looks. Thr irony is, the track is located in an extremely beautiful part of the world, but the way it's presented now, the track might as well be set in an abandoned mall parking lot in Des Moines, Iowa (no offense, Des Moines).
 
Hopefully Pirelli doesn't **** up the race for anyone with their tyres again. Mercedes will have the race pace once again, since they are way better than Red Bull with medium tyres.
 
I never heard something about that

Circuit_0-1.jpg


there might be something else. lol
 
I never heard something about that

Circuit_0-1.jpg


there might be something else. lol
I'd argue that at least those look somewhat interesting. The different shapes and sizes give it a different kind of feel imo. And also mean that differnet parts of the runoff look different, as opposed to equally sized, equally spaced lines for several dozen metres.
 

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