THE HULK IN FRANCE
The return of the French GP is big news for a country with such a proud F1 history. We joined Renault and Nico Hülkenberg on the Côte d’azur during their whistle-stop tour of southern France, ahead of the big event…
We join Nico Hülkenberg as he demos his Renault on the streets
Abalding, portly man leans from the balcony of his first-floor apartment, which overlooks the swooningly lovely Mediterranean bay on which the French seaside town of St-raphaël is built.
He’s just seen a Renault Formula 1 car pull up outside the café above which his flat is located.
Enraptured, seizing the moment, he cries: “ATTENTION! Merci pour le pilote! Merci pour Renault! Hip-hip-hip…”
“Hoorah!” answer the throng, who have been distracted from their seaside perambulations by this unprecedented happening. “Hip-hip-hip…”
“Hoorah!”
[With gusto] “Hip-hip-hip…” “HOORAH!”
There follows a spontaneous outburst of cheering and applause as the somewhat bashful F1 hero who’s become the centre of attention stands up, sips the espresso recently handed to him, and waves a hand. It’s the tall, racing-lean form of Nico Hülkenberg that has emerged above the hubbub and, grinning, he sits back down again at one of the café’s terrace tables to take another hit of caffeine.
What on earth is going on? What is this fantastical scene conjured before us in the yellow-and-black corporate colours of Renault? Certainly nothing like this has ever been witnessed in the otherwise agreeably benign environs of St-raphaël. For this is a dot on the French map, far removed from the sometimes-seedy tourist hustle of Nice – an hour away by road – or the stardust of Cannes and Monaco further east along the Côte d’azur. And never has the urgent shriek of a Formula 1 engine echoed around these sun-dappled streets. Until today, that is.
Earlier this morning, Hulk had been blitzing a 2012 Renault E20 up and down the prom, torturing its 2.4-litre V8 and transmission as he spun donut after donut before the transfixed masses. These were display runs, staged to promote the return of the French GP to the Paul Ricard circuit, 75 miles from here. But while demos such as this are familiar enough (Red Bull, Mercedes, Renault and others regularly take to the streets with recently retired F1 machinery), they never lose their power to amaze innocent bystanders exposed to the drama of an F1 car up close and personal for the first time.
One man stands slack-jawed at the sound and fury of Hulk’s pirouetting machine ten metres in front of him, separated only by a temporary guard-rail. Next to him a woman’s eyes sparkle as she peers through the fog of tyre smoke created by whirling Pirellis. Two children are between them: one on the verge of tears, hands over ears; the other burying his head into the fold of his mother’s arms, seeking comfort amid the confusion of a scene he doesn’t understand.
This is visceral – and that’s the point, says Ludovic Arnault, deputy French GP director: “We have been without a grand prix in France for ten years,” he laments [the last was in 2008, at Magny-cours and won by Felipe Massa], “so there is a whole generation of French children who are growing up without ever having known a grand prix in their
country. That means ahead of this year’s race, we are having to generate interest again and take F1 back to them; to let them see it and smell it and be excited by it.”
A media and marketing push has raised awareness that a storied European round of the championship is set to return, but the race promoters – and Renault – believed something more ‘active’ was required, pre-event, to generate a buzz and word-of-mouth interest: hence this street display, one of a series.
Over ten days from 1 May, Renault’s show car has an itinerary covering nine French towns and cities in the Provence-alpes-côte d’azur region. St-raphaël is day eight, with Hulk on driving duties; before that it was Chateaurenard; Miramas; Salon de Provence; Aubagne; Toulon; Le Lavandou, then a one-day pause for breath. Still to come are Apt and Roquebillière.
“It’s like a little Tour de France, giving fans an introduction to F1, burning some rubber on the roads and doing donuts,” says Hülkenberg, with commendably genuine enthusiasm. “And this has been a really fun day for me, although I think the boys [the show car team] have had a busy week. We don’t get to do anything like this over a race weekend. Anything that slides the car slows you down or damages the tyres.”
The itinerary of this roadshow covers 500 miles and has been mapped out to showcase F1 throughout the south-eastern corner of France that’s home to Paul Ricard, at Le Castellet.
“The last grand prix at Ricard was in 1990, and Prost won it in a Ferrari,” says Arnault. “But that’s a long time ago now – nearly 30 years – so maybe two generations who’ve never known F1 in the south of France.”
“THIS HAS BEEN A FUN DAY…WE DON’T GET TO DO ANYTHING LIKE THIS OVER A RACE WEEKEND. ANYTHING THAT SLIDES THE CAR SLOWS YOU DOWN OR DAMAGES THE TYRES” NICO HÜLKENBERG RENAULT F1 RACER
That unfortunate state of affairs will come to an end in the third week of June, as the French GP launches an unprecedented F1 triple header, with the Austrian and British races following on consecutive weekends. It’s certain to be a heady time for both sport and country.
“This is an amazing moment for France in F1,” says Arnault. “We have the Renault factory team, and their engine is used by two other teams. Then we have three drivers – Romain Grosjean, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly. Then there’s Charles Leclerc of course – even if he is technically Monegasque. And we have three team bosses – Eric Boullier at Mclaren, Fred Vasseur at Sauber and Cyril Abiteboul at Renault. So this is a happy time for France in motorsport – and a good time to be French if you love F1.”
Much of the credit for the return of the French GP can be taken by Christian Estrosi, the mayor of Nice and an ex-pro bike racer. Estrosi chairs the ‘Public Interest Group’ that pulled together funding from across the region to secure a five-year contract for the race. They made that agreement with Bernie Ecclestone at the end of his tenure as F1’s deal-maker-in-chief and happily, the return of an established European fixture chimed with the designs of F1’s new owner, Liberty Media.
Ricard has not lain dormant these past three decades. It was bought by an Ecclestone-owned company in 1999, whereupon it underwent redevelopment to make it one of the world’s most highly specced circuits – briefly renamed the ‘Paul Ricard High Tech Test Track’. In this guise it became a popular venue for testing and tyre development, and it’s only in recent years that it has returned to hosting races, mostly in sportscar categories. Now it’s ready for a return to centre-stage and with more than 90 per cent of tickets sold seven weeks before the event, it seems France hasn’t lost its appetite for F1.
“The people of Nice showed their attachment to motorsport at the Paul Ricard Circuit from 1970 to 1990,” says Estrosi. “These events were very popular for Nice and the Côte d’azur and fans will come from Europe, Asia and America for this grand prix at the start of the summer season. This is a great opportunity for the region.”
And a grand day out for those denizens of St Raphaël who happened to spot an F1 car, and its pilote ,en route to their favourite café.
“FANS WILL COME FROM EUROPE, ASIA AND AMERICA FOR THIS GRAND PRIX AT THE START OF THE SUMMER. THIS IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR THE REGION” LUDOVIC ARNAULT DEPUTY FRENCH GP DIRECTOR