McLaren Racing – Everything you need to know about the French Grand Prix

After a weekend without Formula 1, the first triple victory of the season begins with the French Grand Prix. Fast, furious and oh so much fun, you won’t want to miss a second of the action at Circuit Paul Ricard.

To get us up to speed on our trip to the South of France, check out our latest preview with the thoughts of Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo and McLaren F1 Team Principal Andreas Seidl. It also has a few pointers on what to look out for and details about the McLaren Merch Bundle, which is being released in time for Father’s Day.

So follow you

What you say

“Looking back on Baku, we recovered well and scored some important points for the constructors’ championship. At the same time, we can learn a lot from the weekend that we can take with us in the triple header. Three races in a row can be intense, but everyone on the track and at the factory is prepared and continues to give everything to give us the best chances in the battle for points. We have to keep pushing as a team to get the best out of the car in order to stay in this close battle with our rivals.

“Switching from a number of street circuits to more traditional routes with France and Austria will be an exciting challenge. It’s great to be going back to Paul Ricard for the French Grand Prix after everything that happened last year. It’s a fun, fast track with a mixture of corners and opportunities for good racing. “

“We’re going to France this week to start the first triple header of the season and I can’t wait to get started. Three races in a row can be seen as a challenge, but it’s also a great opportunity to continuously get time in the car and really build on the progress we’ve made so far. Being able to cover more miles in a row over the next three weekends, combined with the work we did in the simulator, will hopefully put us in a good position and further build my confidence in the car.

“We definitely had a productive weekend in Baku with several positive moments. I’m looking forward to driving with Paul Ricard this weekend. It’s a much more conventional and forgiving track than Baku that also involves a little less risk. So let’s stay focused, try to get everything click and see what we can do! “

“After the street circuits in Monaco and Baku, our focus is now on the first triple header of the season with the first race in France. As a team, we know what to expect from the requirements of a triple header and are well prepared for the task at hand. Maintaining a strong operational dynamic with our reliability and spare parts management is a priority in overcoming the unique challenges that successive races present.

“After taking the time to analyze and understand the data from Baku, it is clear that we as a team still need to take more steps forward and get the most out of our package while we are in a very close battle with compete with our competitors. Circuit Paul Ricard is a different track style compared to previous races and therefore it is difficult to understand the pecking order before the weekend. Our priority for the future is to qualify well in order to put ourselves in the best possible position to collect the most points on Sunday. We remain focused and determined to fight for good points again this weekend.

“We are finally driving this weekend in honor of Mansour Ojjeh. He was and remains an integral part of the McLaren family and a real inspiration for all of us. “

What the statistics say

After a 10-year hiatus, the 2018 French Grand Prix returned to the F1 calendar. But don’t let that absence fool you, it’s one of the sport’s most famous races. It was first run in 1906 and has run 86 times, and over the years it has hosted 16 different venues.

McLaren has won the French Grand Prix five times: the first he won in 1976 with James Hunt at Paul Ricard, Niki Lauda followed eight years later in Dijon, Alain Prost scored two memorable home wins with the team at Paul Ricard in 1988 and 1989. and David Coulthard followed a little over a decade later at Magny-Cours in 2000.

When F1 last competed at Paul Ricard, it only marked Lando’s third score in the sport – just a handful of races in his rookie season. This year he arrives as the only driver to have scored points in every race so far this season, while Daniel achieved a top five finish at Paul Ricard with fourth place in 2018.

Tire compound choice for the French GP

What to look out for

Paul Ricard’s layout is quite unique with its abundance of long straights and long corners. The latter and similar to the slower turns 14 and 15 mean that this is not a low downforce track. It’s not dissimilar to Silverstone and is a power sensitive circuit too. Working out the optimal level of downforce will be one of the biggest challenges this weekend. You want downforce for the corners, but you also have to limit the aerodynamic drag on the straights.

Track temperature is always a key factor in getting the most out of your tires. In the past we have experienced very high track temperatures at Paul Ricard: This is due, among other things, to the warm weather that we often enjoyed in Le Castellet – and this weekend should be blessed again, but also on the asphalt It is particularly dark here, which means that it stores a lot of heat. There is a tendency for the races at Paul Ricard to be a single stop and while it’s too early to say if that will be Sunday’s strategy, it may well turn out to be the way to go.

Weather forecast for the weekend

What to wear

Sunday June 20th is a big day. Not only is it the date of the French Grand Prix, it is also Father’s Day. We’re all for celebrating the dads out there, but we know that finding the perfect gift for them can be notoriously difficult. Even if they say they’d love a pair of socks or slippers, you obviously want to show the love and give them something memorable. But what are you going to do?

We have just the thing with our Father’s Day gift package. It features a McLaren t-shirt, backpack, key ring, lanyard, and water bottle. Each of these merchandise items will be a hit with the McLaren supporting dad in your life – and you can mix and match them to your heart’s content. For the entire package, you will receive a 10% discount on your order and an additional 10% discount if you are a McLaren Plus member.

Plus one

Apparently there aren’t any stupid questions and while some fans will occasionally send one to #TheFifthDriver, that’s a little, say, left field, but the vast majority have their merits. We love answering as many as possible during the live commentary on McLaren.com and the McLaren app throughout the race weekend and putting them into our “Question Time” feature on McLaren.com.

Not only do we strive to give you the answers you’re looking for, but we also give an award to those who ask the best questions. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix selection came from @vaniliecusuc, who wanted to know why we taped gaps in the car’s body – a question that earned them a McLaren flag signed by Lando and Daniel. As with most things in Formula 1, it’s all about maximizing performance – even if it’s only worth a few thousandths of a second.

Do you have a question for the team that you would like to have answered? Do you fancy McLaren merch? Make sure you send your best questions to #TheFifthDriver before this weekend.

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