Mercedes F1: Preview of the French Grand Prix

June 15, 2021

Formula 1 is returning to the Paul Ricard Circuit for round 7 of the 2021 season, the French Grand Prix.

Toto talks about France

We came from two street circuits that were unsuitable for our car, two laps that we knew would be difficult for us, and we were disappointed to lose a podium and a win to our own mistakes. This frustration reflects our high demands on ourselves and drives us.

In Monaco and Baku we put the W12 in a window where only one of our drivers found the confidence to deliver the car’s performance – Valtteri in Monaco and Lewis in Baku. In such a tight and intense battle for the title, we have to deliver a car in every race that our two drivers can confidently push to their limits.

For us, the French Grand Prix means a return to a more traditional circuit and hopefully better luck. It’s a track we’ve ridden well in the past, and with a wide range of cornering speeds that will test the car in every way, it’s an interesting challenge for us to master.

We have six races of the season behind us and there is still a long way to go. It looks very tight at the front and we don’t expect that to change anytime soon. We’ll try to translate our findings from the last few weeks into performance and deliver a much stronger weekend with both cars.

Fact File: French Grand Prix
As a result of the renovation and modernization by Paul Ricard in 2002 and further modifications over the years, there are now 247 different possible route configurations from 0.8 km to 5.86 km in length.

With 64 of these possible track configurations, a sophisticated sprinkler system can be used to create a wet track surface in dry conditions. This increases the versatility of the track and makes it an interesting place for tire testing.

Before the return of the French Grand Prix in 2018, part of the track was re-paved while new pedestrian passageways, new spectator gates, the installation of 46,000 permanent seats in the stands and the construction of a new paddock and media center.

Most of the track has also been re-paved for the F1 return in 2021 and many of the corners have been very subtly re-profiled. However, the layout of the circuit remains the same.

The colored stripes at Paul Ricard are not just for show, they form a non-slip asphalt drainage system that replaces traditional gravel beds. Both colors use a mix of asphalt and tungsten to create an abrasive surface that helps slow the cars down when they get off the track. However, the abrasion is different depending on the color. The ‘blue zone’ is not as abrasive and only punishes slightly, but the ‘red zone’ – near the barriers – is much more abrasive and effective at slowing down cars.

Circuit Paul Ricard has a real mix of corner types with a number of high, medium and low speed corners that make it such a popular and useful test track. These are more evenly distributed between the first and third sectors, but the second sector is dominated by the long back straight, which is cut through by a narrow chicane.

Paul Ricard’s twisty first and third sectors put him in the middle of the leaderboard when it comes to lap time (64%) and lap distance (74%) that he spent at full throttle.

Due to safety concerns at the returning French Grand Prix in 2018, the pit entrance has been relocated for the 2019 event. Instead of entering the pit lane from the main straight, it was moved to the right-hand side in the penultimate corner and crossed the last corner. The change made a pit stop around a second faster.

Paul Ricard is the seventh track to host a French Grand Prix and was the second most popular French GP in F1 history at 16, behind Magny-Cours at 18.

The track has three strong braking zones, defined as more than 4 g for over 0.4 seconds. There are also three in Suzuka, Mexico and Interlagos, while only one route includes four: Albert Park.

However, the brakes are not of particular concern to Paul Ricard, as the braking zones are relatively well distributed so that the brakes have enough time to cool down.

In the long and gradually tightening curve 11, Paul Ricard registers the highest g-forces, with the drivers experiencing 4.9 g there.

Of all the routes on the F1 2021 timetable, Paul Ricard has the highest average route temperature (50 ° C) and the second-highest maximum route temperature (55 ° C).

There is a height difference of about 30 meters from the highest point of the route (turn 12) and the lowest point of the route (turn 6), but since the height difference is distributed over the length of the lap, this is not the case – you can see it in the Reality.

Stat Attack: France and Beyond

Schedule for the French Grand Prix 2021

Racing records – Mercedes F1 at the French Grand Prix

Technical Statistics – Season To Date (Bahrain Pre-Season Test To Date)

Mercedes-Benz in Formula 1