#Formula1 Emirates #FrenchGP 2021 Preview. #F1
Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix De France 2019 Race Start, Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France. Image credit to Getty Images. TermiOnTrack F1 News. 2021 French GP Preview. French Grand Prix Preview.
The 2021 French GP Preview is here! After Sergio Perez won a wild Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which saw Red Bull team-mate and Championship leader Max Verstappen crash out due to a puncture and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finish out of the points due to a lock-up, round seven of the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship returns to France at the Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France for the Formula 1 Emirates Grand Prix De France 2021 following a year of absence from the F1 calendar due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is also the first of a triple header weekend of Grand Prix racing with the Styrian and Austrian Grands Prix held at the Red Bull Ring the following weekends. This is the third time that the event returns to the Circuit Paul Ricard after it last hosted the race in 1990. It is the 89th running of the French Grand Prix and the 60th time that the event has been part of the FIA Formula One World Championship since the sport began in 1950.
2021 French GP Preview – A look at the Circuit Paul Ricard
The Circuit Paul Ricard is a permanent motorsport racetrack built in 1969 at Le Castellet, near Marseille in France.
The circuit opened on April 1970 with its innovative facilities making the French track one of the most safest racing circuits in the world at the time of it’s opening with the first event being a 2-litre sports car race.
The circuit had three track layout variations, a large industrial park and an airstrip. The combination of modern facilities, mild winter weather and an airstrip made it a favourite among the racing teams in all different categories for testing during the off-season.
The circuit’s character is very hard on engines as they run on full revs for long spells. Engine failures were common at Paul Ricard, such as Ayrton Senna’s huge crash during the 1985 event after his Renault engine blew in his 97t Lotus, as the Brazilian went backwards on his own oil at Signes and crashed heavily, luckily escaped with minor bruising. Nigel Mansell also crashed at the same spot during practice, suffering a concussion which kept him out of the race. The Briton’s crash came from a left rear tyre puncture exploding after flying over 320kph, which detached his Honda-powered FW10’s rear wing.
The Honda-powered FW10 Williams holds the fastest lap on the original circuit with 1982 World Champion Keke Rosberg setting a 1:39.914 during the 1985 French Grand Prix. The quickest top speed at the circuit came from Swiss driver Marc Surer flying down the famous Mistral Straight with his 1000bhp Brabham-BMW BT54 hitting 338kph.
The Circuit Paul Ricard developed some of the best drivers during the 1970’s and 80’s with four-time World Champion Alain Prost winning the French Grand Prix at the circuit four times (1983, 1988, 1989 and 1990).
The circuit was also used for testing, especially for Formula One. In 1986, Brabham’s Elio De Angelis was killed during a testing accident at the fast first corner after his BT55’s rear wing broke off. Although the circuit itself was not the cause of the crash, they modified it to make it safer.
The French Grand Prix will be run on the modified longer circuit formerly used, including a chicane halfway down the long 1.8-kilometre Mistral Straight.
Built on a plateau, one of the tests the drivers and teams face this weekend is the Mistral wind. This longer configuration provides a range of challenges across the three sectors.
The circuit features two long high-speed straights, some heavy braking zones but also technical slow speed corners, while the famous Signes corner at the end of the Mistral Straight will be one of the fastest corners on the F1 calendar. This could give the teams the possibility of exploring different directions on car setup, with the Friday practice sessions set to be very busy as they test a wide range of downforce levels.
Paul Ricard has hosted the French Grand Prix on 14 occasions from 1971-1990 with the Long Circuit (without the Mistral Chicane) being used from 1971-1985 and the shorter Club Circuit from 1986-1990.
The circuit runs in a clockwise direction and is 5.842km (3.630 mi) in length with 15 corners.
The race distance is 309.626km (192.393 mi) with 53 laps in total.
Sebastian Vettel holds the fastest lap record at the Circuit Paul Ricard with a 1:32.740 set at last year’s event in his Scuderia Ferrari SF90.
Michael Schumacher holds the record for most victories at the French Grand Prix with eight.
Scuderia Ferrari are the most successful constructor at the French Grand Prix with seventeen victories to their name.
2021 French GP Preview – Onboard Lap of the Circuit Paul Ricard
Here is the onboard pole position lap of the Circuit Paul Ricard with Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team’s Lewis Hamilton, set at the 2019 event. The reigning champion posted a 1:28.319 of the Le Castellet track. You can watch it here at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiylFg4Xl_0
2021 French GP Preview – The Last Five Winners
2019: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2018: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 (Circuit Paul Ricard). 2008: Felipe Massa, Scuderia Ferrari (Magny Cours). 2007: Kimi Raikkonen, Scuderia Ferrari (Magny Cours). 2006: Michael Schumacher, Scuderia Ferrari (Magny Cours).
2021 French GP Preview – Tyres
Sole tyre-supplier Pirelli will be bringing with them to Le Castellet, the white side-walled C2 Hard rubber, the yellow-marked C3 Medium compounds and the red side-coloured C4 Soft tyres along with the green-branded Intermediates and blue side-marked Full Wets in case of rain.
Drivers will have eight sets of the softs, three sets of the mediums and two sets of the hards.
2021 French GP Preview – DRS Zones
There will be two DRS Zones at the Circuit Paul Ricard, the first detection point is 75 metres before turn seven with the activation zone 170 metres after turn seven. The second DRS detection point is at turn 14 with the activation zone 115 metres after turn 15.
2021 French GP Preview – Pitlane Speed Limits
Pitlane speeds will be 80km/h during practice, qualifying and the race.
ICYMI: Azerbaijan GP Rewind – Perez claims second-career victory in dramatic GP
Sergio Perez claimed his maiden victory for Red Bull in a wild Azerbaijan GP ahead of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel after team-mate Max Verstappen’s retired with a late puncture and Lewis Hamilton’s overtake on the restart went wrong.
Verstappen’s incident saw the red flag brought out with three laps remaining, which became a two-lap sprint to the finish following a second standing-start, where Hamilton battled Perez for the lead as they braked into the first corner.
Hamilton’s brakes were smoking heavily ahead of the second start, but the Mercedes driver made the better run off the line from the front row and was in-front of the Red Bull as they braked into turn one.
But the Briton’s front-right brakes locked up and he went deep into the run-off area, dropping out of the points and wound-up 15th, as Perez ran clear to clinch his second-career victory.
When the 51 lap Azerbaijan GP began, pole-sitter Charles Leclerc lead briefly before the long-time top three flew by the Ferrari, with the Grand Prix split in two by a safety car period, which also saw Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll suffer a massive tyre failure on the main-straight, before the Verstappen incident, that added spice to the closing stages.
At the first standing start, the top three had a comfortable getaway, with Leclerc holding onto P1 as Hamilton and Verstappen slotted in following the grid order, with Perez the main mover as he jumped from sixth to fourth by taking advantage of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who lost momentum fighting AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and then getting by the Frenchman into the third corner at the end of the back straight.
Leclerc ended the opening lap 0.3 seconds in-front of Hamilton, but his lead did not last long as the latter was able to close in and fly past the Ferrari as they went across the grid at the end of the second lap.
Debris fell onto the Baku City Circuit ahead of the turn 15 quick left-hander where several cars have crashed over the race weekend, which appeared to cause Leclerc to cut the corner, which gave Hamilton the momentum needed to get a good run on the Monegasque-youngster and claim the lead.
Leclerc was able to keep up with the Mercedes for a few laps, with Verstappen close behind, but when he fell out of DRS range at the end of the sixth tour the Red Bull charged.
When the seventh lap began, Verstappen got by on the outside rundown to the first corner, with Perez doing the same to relegate Leclerc to fourth a lap later.
Hamilton was able to remain out of DRS range from Verstappen for the next few tours, but the Red Bull was beginning to reel in the Mercedes when the pit-stop sequence opened.
Two laps after Leclerc came in at the end of the ninth tour from behind the three front-runners, Hamilton stopped to put on a set of C3 white side-walled harder tyres, but a 4.3 second delay waiting for Gasly’s AlphaTauri to pass by cost the Briton crucial time.
Verstappen purpled up the timing screens on the next lap, the Dutchman’s in-lap, but a solid 1.9 second stop for hards compared to the Briton’s slow stop, saw the Red Bull emerge comfortably ahead in the net lead.
Perez also posted a spectacular in-lap the next time by, which became critical as the Mexican was able to jump Hamilton, after a slow-left rear tyre change, also saw the Red Bull driver suffer a 4.3 second stop.
Hamilton had DRS assistance to hound Perez into turn three on his out-lap, but the Mercedes could not get close enough to make an overtake, as the net leaders settled down in their new order behind Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel who remained out in-front.
Verstappen eventually eased away from his team-mate as Hamilton chased down Perez by getting into DRS range for most of the next stage of the Grand Prix – the trio returning back to the proper lead when Vettel stopped for harder compounds on lap 18, emerging behind Leclerc, who lost out to Gasly in the pit-stops, in sixth and seventh, respectively.
By the 15th tour, Verstappen’s lead was 3.1 seconds over team-mate Perez, where it stood for the next ten laps as the lead drivers made sure not to eat their tyre life, with Hamilton eventually slipping out of Perez’s DRS range during this period.
A series of fastest laps and then moved away from Haas F1 Team’s Nikita Mazepin meant Verstappen’s gap reached five seconds just passed the mid-way point of the Grand Prix, with Perez losing time to his Red Bull team-mate and Hamilton on the lap when he overtook the Haas.
Verstappen’s lead was close to seven seconds when the race was stabilised by a shocking tyre blowout for the yet-to-pit Stroll, who started on the grid in 19th, but suffered a left-rear tyre failure as he came to pass Mazepin as they ran down the pit-straight at the end of the 30th tour, with Stroll running a high fourth place.
The tyre blowout saw the Canadian’s AMR21 racer darting into the wall nose-first and coming to a stop near the rapid-speed pit-entry, with debris scattered onto the track, which deployed the safety car and the pit-lane closed.
Stroll climbed out unscathed, with five laps passing behind the safety car as the car and debris were cleared.
The race went green on lap 36, with Verstappen moving away from Perez as they reached the grid as the green flags waved and then moved clear to a two-second lead by the end of the first tour at full speed.
Hamilton got close to Perez at the restart, but the Briton never looked like getting by, as the top three again pulled clear from the field, which was soon lead by Vettel – who overtook Leclerc exiting the first corner at the restart after the Ferrari tried to pass Gasly’s AlphaTauri then lost out in a drag with the Aston Martin down the pit-straight ahead of the 37th tour beginning as Vettel clinched two places in less than one lap.
Verstappen rapidly pulled out his gap again and looked in full control of the race, as the Dutchman looked on course to back-to-back victories in succession, his lead hit 4.4 seconds at the start of lap 46, at the end of which his race ended in disastrous fashion.
Just before the Red Bull reached the grid at top speed, his left-rear tyre burst in a similar way to Stroll’s incident – with the RB16B racer sent into the outside wall opposite the pits.
Verstappen was pitched several times around after going into the wall nose-first and as he climbed out of his car and kicked the blown left-rear tyre, the safety car was deployed.
But after a few tours with the safety car leading the field through the pits, the race was suspended – just after Red Bull requested to the FIA that this development would give all cars the chance to change tyres given there was no warning of Verstappen’s puncture, via Sporting Team Director Jonathan Wheatley.
Following a 35-minute delay, a final three-lap sprint to the finish took place with all cars on the red-marked softer rubber once more, the race resumed again with a standing start restart, where Hamilton locked-up and went straight on and Perez’s path to clinch the Azerbaijan GP victory was eased, as the Mexican crossed the line by 1.385 seconds.
Vettel finished second following Hamilton’s off, with Gasly holding off Leclerc to claim the final podium place.
McLaren’s Lando Norris fought back after a poor initial start to reach eighth before the red flag, which became seventh due to Verstappen’s retirement, and the Briton gained two spots at the second restart to finish fifth, ending up very close to the Ferrari as Leclerc battled Gasly.
Alpine F1 Team’s Fernando Alonso lead a pack of four cars opting for a second stop when the pit-lane re-opened just before the Stroll-incident safety car came in but was set to finish tenth before the suspension.
The Spaniard also had a brilliant second start to come home in sixth place in-front of AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Ferrari’s Sainz, with McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen completing the top ten.
The other Alfa Romeo Racing entry of Antonio Giovinazzi was 11th and ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas who came a low 12th with Haas F1 Team’s Mick Schumacher and Mazepin, 13th and 14th respectively.
The aforementioned Hamilton finished 15th and Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi brought up the rear.
The other Williams FW43B of George Russell was unable to make the restart as he lost drive approaching the grid on the second warm-up tour and the Briton returned to the pits, where he joined Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon as the other casualty of the race.
Ocon pulled off at the end of lap four after reporting a loss of power in his Renault-powered A521 racer, with a puff of smoke coming from his car exiting the last corner before pulling off and parking it in the team garage.
The Situation
Max Verstappen heads to the Circuit Paul Ricard sitting on top of the World Driver’s Championship Standings with 105 points and a four-point-advantage over Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who is second on 101 points while Sergio is third and a further 36 points behind his Red Bull team-mate and on 69 points.
Red Bull Racing returns to France sitting on top of the Constructors Championship with 174 points and a 26 point-lead over nearest rivals Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team who are second on 148 points while Scuderia Ferrari are a further 80-points behind the Milton Keynes-based outfit in third on 94 points.
Click here for the 2021 Formula 1 Driver’s (Top Ten) and Constructors Championship Standings
The Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix De France 2021 weekend begins Friday June 18 with Free Practice 1 and 2, followed by Free Practice 3 and Qualifying Saturday June 19 and the 53 lap Race Sunday June 20.
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