Of the French GP and the two races in Austria

18-20 June 2021 Circuit Paul Ricard

THE MAIN EVENT

Touching back down on the calendar after some pandemic turbulence – it was cancelled last year and has been shunted around again to enable the double-header in Austria – the French GP offers one of F1’s most distinctive backdrops. Paul Ricard sits on a plateau in the coastal foothills of Provence-alpes-côte d’azur, and its colourful striped borders of high-abrasion asphalt bear testament to its recent incarnation as a test rather than race track.

Since F1 returned in 2018 racing has been processional even though the circuit features a feisty combination of corners and high-speed straights. That may change since 70% of the track has been resurfaced ahead of the 2021 event, including all the corners bar one.

2019 RACE RECAP

Lewis Hamilton made it six wins from eight races as he won from pole despite a broken seat. Most of the action came at the beginning and end of the race, as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc attacked the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas through the opening corners and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen tried to crash the party as well. There were signs, too, of the coming Mclaren resurgence as Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris got involved in the battle for third.

Blistered tyres and a misfire on Bottas’s car left him vulnerable to Leclerc after a late Virtual Safety Car and they duelled for second until the end, with Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel a more distant fourth and fifth. Sainz was sixth but Norris suffered late car dramas and slid to ninth.

KEY CORNER: TURN

5 Scene of one of the fastest accidents in F1 history (albeit one which started at Turn 3), this corner has been reprofiled in the recent works and now features a crest on the apex which could provoke mistakes.

RACE DATA

Venue Circuit Paul Ricard

First GP 1971

Number of laps 53

Circuit length 3.630 miles

Longest straight 0.64 miles

Race distance 192.432 miles

Lap record 1m32.740s Sebastian Vettel (2019)

F1 races held 16

Winners from pole 10

Pirelli compounds C2, C3, C4

CAR PERFORMANCE

Downforce level Medium

Cooling requirement Medium

Full throttle 58%

Top speed 213mph

Average speed 139mph

TIMETABLE (UK TIME)

Friday 18 June

Practice 1 10:30-11:30

Practice 2 14:00-15:00

Saturday 19 June

Practice 3 11:00-12:00

Qualifying 14:00-15:00

Sunday 20 June

Race 14:00

Live coverage Sky Sports F1

Highlights Channel 4