[Official] French Grand Prix 2021: Grand Prix Weekend Thread - Round 7 of 23

[Born Racer]

It was perhaps surprising to see the French Grand Prix off the calendar for ten years, prior to its revival in 2018. It is indeed from France that the term 'Grand Prix' derived. The inaugural Grand Prix was organised by the Automobile Club de France and held on 26th and 27th June 1906 on a 103.18-kilometre layout that went towards the outskirts of Le Mans and near several villages and towns.

There were ten French manufacturers, two from Italy (including FIAT) and one from Germany (Mercedes). Cars started at ninety-second intervals and the winning car was a Renault, driven by Hunagarian Ferenc Szisz in 12 hours 14 minutes. Regulations included a maximum weight limit and fuel consumption of 30 litres per 100 kilometres. In the intervening 115 years, this technology and performance-driven sport has, of course, changed enormously, and during that time the French Grand Prix has played quite a major part in its history, with the race featuring in many guises.

In 1907 and 1908, Dieppe held the Grand Prix, at which time the regulations had both a minimum weight and a maximum cylinder bore, but no fuel consumption limit. After a three-year hiatus, the race returned to Dieppe in 1912, with Coupe de l’Auto cars permitted alongside Grand Prix cars. The Coupe cars had 3-litre engines, while the Grand Prix cars were limited only by a minimum width of 1750mm. Georges Boillot won the 1539.778 km-race by thirteen minutes in his Peugeot.

The 1913 race was held on a public road circuit in Amiens, moving to Lyon in 1914. Mercedes took the first three spots. Grand Prix racing resumed after World War 1 in 1921 on the Circuit de a Sarthe of Le Mans. The 517.80-kilometre race took a little over four hours to complete by the winner, American Jimmy Murphy in his Duesenberg. Winning driver of the 1907 Dieppe race, Felice Nazzarro, won in 1922 in Strasbourg in a Fiat. Henry Segrave won in his Sunbeam at Tours in 1923 and Giuseppe Campari in an Alfa Romeo in 1924 at Lyon.

The Grand Prix then moved over subsequent years from circuits at Montlhéry, Miramas and Saint-Gaudens. In 1925, Antonio Ascari (father of world champion Alberto) perished in an accident at Montlhéry, as Robert Benoist and Albert Divo shared winning honours in a Delage.

The race then went to Saint-Gaudens, Le Mans and next to Pau, although not on the street track used in more modern eras. The 1928 installment was run for sportscars and featured four 10-lap heats and a final handicap race of 10 laps and was won by William Grover-Williams. After the 1.5-litre formula of 1926 and 1927 had yielded poor entries and the sportscar race, there were no engine restrictions in 1929, with Williams the winner again in a Bugatti T25B. The Grand Prix went back once again to Montlhéry in 1931, and was held over ten hours, most teams fielded two drivers per car. Louis Chiron and Achille Varzi took winning honours in the Bugatti T51.

The 1932 French Grand Prix took place at Reims and formed part of the European Championship, and the remaining races before World War 2 were held at these two venues.

In 1947, the French Grand Prix resumed in Lyon, where Louis Chiron came through the order to win in the Talbot-Lago MC, before moving to Reims. The first Formula 1 World Championship French Grand Prix in 1950 was won by Juan Manuel Fangio in an Alfa Romeo. The following year saw one of three occasions where there was more than one winning driver, due to shared cars, with Fangio and Luigi Fagioli taking the spoils for Alfa Romeo. After a misfire in Fangio’s car, Fagioli gave up his and swapped with him during his pit stop. He was angry at having to change, finishing down in 11th in Fangio’s car, and he soon quit the team. Alberto Ascari also took over José Froilán Gonzalez’s Ferrari and they jointly shared second place.

The race moved to Rouen-les-Essarts in 1952 and the rest of the races until 1964 were held either there or at Reims. 1953 saw an excellent battle between Fangio and Mike Hawthorn for the lead, with the latter prevailing. There was other Grand Prix racing in France too. Bordeaux hosted its own non-championship race various times on a street track in the city, with luminaries such as Alberto Ascari, José Froilán Gonzalez and Jean Behra among the winners.

The 1955 French Grand Prix was cancelled due to the Le Mans tragedy. It was Hawthorn who, about to lap Fangio in the Argentinian’s last race, slowed down to let him cross the line first and be able to complete his final lap. After the race moved to Clermont-Ferrand, the short Bugatti Circuit at Le Mans was used in 1967, but only lasted a year. Rouen held the event for the last time in 1968 and the race returned to Clermont-Ferrand, with the French Grand Prix moving to Paul Ricard, near Marseilles, for the first time in 1971. After a race at Clermont-Ferrand the following year, the French Grand Prix alternated between Paul Ricard and Dijon-Prenois until 1985, after which point a shortened Paul Ricard circuit was used until 1990.

It was at Dijon in 1979 that René Arnoux and Gilles Villeneuve banged wheels in their late battle for second place. It was a Ferrari sandwich, with the 1.6-litre turbocharged Renaults of Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Arnoux taking 1st and 3rd place, the first victory in Formula 1 for a turbocharged engine. The use of the short version of Paul Ricard followed Elio de Angelis’s fatal testing accident a few months earlier at the fast Verrerie bends, the last death of a driver in Formula 1 until the San Marino Grand Prix 1994.

In 1990, the Adrian Newey-designed Leyton House cars of Ivan Capelli and Mauricio Gugelmin amazed many by running first and second for the majority of the race. After Gugelmin was passed by Alain Prost, his engine expired after 58 laps, while Capelli had engine difficulties too and was overtaken by Prost on Lap 77 of 80. Capelli held on to finish second.

In 1991, the race moved to Magny-Cours. Although not universally popular as a venue, in part perhaps unfairly attributed to its remote location, it didn’t always produce bad races. In 1999, the top three in qualifying after a wet session was Rubens Barrichello in the Stewart, Jean Alesi in the Sauber and Olivier Panis in the Prost. Heinz-Harald Frentzen ended the race on top in the Jordan Mugen-Honda. The race started dry before it rained heavily and involved Mika Hakkinen spinning, Michael Schumacher dropping back due to an electrical problem, Hakkinen passing Frentzen and the Jordan driver ultimately coming out on top after Hakkinen had to pit for fuel.

In 2000, David Coulthard took what he has sometimes cited as his best victory, closing in on Michael Schumacher and being denied an overtake following robust defence, which incurred the McLaren driver's wrath as he showed Michael the finger, before later getting by.

Two years later, Kimi Räikkönen locked up at the big hairpin, letting Schumacher through and losing the opportunity for his first win, while in 2004, Rubens Barrichello made an opportunist move on Renault's Jarno Trulli to snatch the final podium spot.

In 2018, on the race's return to Paul Ricard, it was Lewis Hamilton who won in a commanding Mercedes performance, from Max Verstappen. Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas collided on the opening lap, for which the Ferrari driver earned a 5-second penalty. They finished down in 5th and 7th respectively.

In 2019, the last time the race was staged here, Hamilton won again, from Bottas and Charles Leclerc. A superb last lap battle for the lower points-paying positions took place, with Räikkönen coming out on top and Daniel Ricciardo being penalised for being off-track while overtaking.

Trivia

The French Grand Prix was the original 'Grand Prix'.

Michael Schumacher has won the French Grand Prix more times than any other driver with eight victories.

Ferrari have the most victories of the manufacturers, with 17.

Of the current field, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen have all won.

The race has featured four victories by two drivers in one car - in 1925, 1931, 1936 and 1951.

The track



Long straights are punctuated by some short, mid and high-speed corners and rather like the Circuit de Catalunya, it places a wide variety of demands on a car. Sector 3 is very much about the lateral loads placed on the car, while. The asphalt is two years old in most places and smooth. Tyre degradation is low and the race was won last time on a one-stopper, going from the medium to the hard compound.

Other information

Circuit length: 5.842 km
Number of laps: 53
Race distance: 309.69 km
Race Lap Record: 1:32.740 (Sebastian Vettel – Ferrari - 2019)
Dry weather tyre compounds: C2, C3 & C4

First French Grand Prix: 1906
First World Championship French Grand Prix: 1950
First Grand Prix at this circuit: 1971
First Grand Prix on this configuration: 2018

Join in the fun with the F1 Predictions Contest and Fantasy F1:

https://tentenths.com/forum/showthre...08#post4056908

https://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=156053

[Alan52]

The last 2 races at this track have been terrible.Hoping we don’t get 3 in a row.
I thought before Monaco that this run of 3 races would be a true indication of whether Max can take down Lewis for the title.Memories of how strong Mercedes was in Spain make me think if Max can get 2 out of 3 wins he is in with a great chance.

[E.B]

Great intro and info BR. Thanks. Might be the best part of the weekend.....

Originally Posted by Alan52

The last 2 races at this track have been terrible. Hoping we don’t get 3 in a row.

The final lap in 2019 was quite entertaining but sadly that is about it. One good lap maketh not a decent race. Danny Ric ended up with two track limit penalties in that last lap in a great dice with Kimi and Lando.

https://youtu.be/KuH7O6kX4cc

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by E.B

Great intro and info BR. Thanks. Might be the best part of the weekend.....

Agreed. And all those painted stripes make the show terrible to watch. Will happily go walk the dogs and have a look to the best moments, if any, when back home.

[steve_r]

I'll have the anti Epileptic drugs and a strong coffee ready for this race.

It's interesting to see how the balance of power works out at the front between Red Bull and Mercedes. The one-lap pace of others such as Ferrari and McLaren have come into play in qualy, but not in the races yet.

[S griffin]

Excellent intro BR. Even though Paul Ricard ain't the best circuit, I'm glad the French GP is back this year after circumstances last year called it off. The French have a great motorsport history. It seemed ridiculous that the country that invented motor racing and hosted the first Grand Prix, was off the calendar for 9 years between 2009 and 2017

[S griffin]

Bottas quickest in FP1 and that’s a good start for him. He really needs to bounce back this weekend

[bjohnsonsmith]

Excellent intro as ever.


Looking forward to how this unfolds. Can Mad Max extend his lead or will Lulu win the day? Exciting times.

[chillibowl]

Exciting times indeed. My anticipation for the title battle is high and awesome to see more fans!

Also love the intro!

[E.B]

In FP2 we had someone other than a Mercedes topping a session for the first time since they returned to Le Castellet. Hopefully Max can keep the pressure on.

[S griffin]

Merc may be down after Baku, but they are far from out. Gonna be an interesting weekend

[Tourer]

Great intro BR - thank you.

Hopefully we get a better race this time than the recent experiences at this track - some levelling of performance amongst the front running teams may help in that regard.

Really enjoyable memories of this place - staying at Bandol down by the water; the transporters heading home much heavier and clinking all the way due to the boxes & boxes & boxes of Bandol Rose on board; the old kart hire place across the road from the circuit (until all race teams got banned from it) and the epic arguments with the security / pass checkers at the entrance - all part of the authentic Paul Ricard French GP experience!

[Adam43]

I agree with Dutch Jaap. This race is going to be boring. Don’t watch.

[Skam85]

Originally Posted by Adam43

I agree with Dutch Jaap. This race is going to be boring. Don’t watch.

Don't watch - but also you must make sure you tell everyone on the internet that you aren't watching

[wnut]

mercedes trying to have the circuit reconfigured to suit themselves, again.

https://www.msn.com/en-au/sport/more...?ocid=msedgntp

Seems to be the general rule that ruins every circuit, if your driver can't avoid parts of the circuit, move them to another county.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Skam85

Don't watch - but also you must make sure you tell everyone on the internet that you aren't watching

I haven’t got the time as I’ve got to post in a golf forum that I’m too amazing to watch that too.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by wnut

mercedes trying to have the circuit reconfigured to suit themselves, again.

https://www.msn.com/en-au/sport/more...?ocid=msedgntp

Seems to be the general rule that ruins every circuit, if your driver can't avoid parts of the circuit, move them to another county.

Will they never stop. It’s beyond a joke now.

[S griffin]

It's simple, adapt your car to the different circuits

[chavez]

Well the first F3 race showed that the track is not to blame if the big boys can't overtake this weekend.

[chillibowl]

Red flag and many have burnt a set of tires.

[chillibowl]

Is the swapping of chassis between drivers by Merc a function of budget caps and the impending rules change?

Seems unusual for what was once an incredibly well funded team.

[Adam43]

What has he last corner apex done to annoy Bottas so much?

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

Is the swapping of chassis between drivers by Merc a function of budget caps and the impending rules change?

Seems unusual for what was once an incredibly well funded team.

Red Bull pointed out they were running out of front wings on Friday too.

It’s good this budget cap thing.

Someone on this forum once said it doesn’t have to be perfect just good enough. I liked that. Who was it?

[tux]

Not trying to be a "smart alec" but surely Haas will be running out of spares soon?

[Adam43]

Mike and Yuki needs to be punished for bringing out that red flag.