The Official 2018 French Grand Prix Thread **SPOILERS**

[Dr Z]

I know, I know, you are all eagerly anticipating Le Mans this weekend. Let’s get this going in the meantime.

Date(s): Friday 22 June 2018 - Sunday 24 June 2018

UK Broadcast Timings (and local time)

All sessions are live on Sky F1 with highlights on Channel 4.

Session	Day	Sky F1	Channel 4	Session Start	Local Time
Practice 1	Fri	1030	-	1100	1200
Practice 2	Fri	1445	-	1500	1600
Practice 3	Sat	1145	-	1200	1300
Qualifying	Sat	1400	1830	1500	1600
Race	Sun	1330	2215	1510	1610

Circuit Paul Ricard



Live timing for all sessions available here:

https://www.formula1.com/en/f1-live.html

Lap times, PU component use, technical reports and Stewards' decisions for the weekend will appear here:

https://www.fia.com/events/fia-formula-one-world-c...

Weather forecast:

http://www.myweather2.com/Motor-Racing/France/Paul...

The tyre choices:

---

The French Grand Prix returns after a nine year hiatus, and this time at Paul Ricard (after 27 years). It’s a fresh challenge for the teams, with little or no previous data to work with. You can bet all the simulation engineers at the teams will have been particularly busy figuring out ways to tackle the weekend with regards to car setup.

The track resembles Montreal in the presence of a number of low and medium speed corners, so mechanical grip will again be at a premium, but the corners do go on longer here. Also in contrast to Montreal, there are no walls next to the corners, so the drivers have a lot more margin to play with. Full throttle % per lap is similar to Montreal. Pirelli are bringing the different spec tyres they brought for Spain, which adds to the challenge for the teams.

The track has a couple of long straights in which DRS is available: the pit straight (~0.9 km) and the back straight before the chicane (~1 km), suggesting cars with good aero efficiency will perform well. It will be interesting to see the wing levels teams run on their cars as there is a high speed corner in sector 3 (T7) which would most likely be taken flat, and all of sector 3 also rewarding a higher downforce setup. Gut feeling says China levels, but we shall see.

The layout also seems a good test for the deployment capacity of the different ERS systems. Mercedes are said to be the leaders in this regard, but it remains to be seen if Ferrari have matched or surpassed them, especially since the Phase 2 Mercedes engines are expected here.

The DRS zones seem reasonably long, so overtaking should be possible, and there are other spots at the track where a brave dive up the inside should be possible too. No promises though, it’s a new track for the cars, let’s see how they go. If I were to pick holes in the system, the pit straight is preceded by a low speed corner which makes DRS less effective in the distance available, however, the effect on the back straight should be more powerful.

Mercedes did some tyre testing for Pirelli here only a few weeks ago, so expect them to be quick out of the box. Ferrari almost always seem to find some speed come Saturday after some number crunching and sim work back at the factory overnight, so Saturday form has tended to give a better read on things this year. Ultimately, this weekend has a lot of variables that are new to the teams, so the experienced teams and teams that have a good understanding of their car should come to the fore.

Get your predictions in. Winner? Best of the rest (i.e. 4th best!)? Dead last?

Edited by Dr Z on Wednesday 20th June 13:23

[hairyben]

Max has gone from race to qually to pre event thursday interview for his crash.

I'm bagsing he crashes on the way to the circuit for this weekend.

[stevesingo]

We like Dr Z and his f1 GP posts :-)

[Deesee]

Thanks DrZ for the thread!

Down on the riveria at the moment it’s starting to warm up down here, sadly got be back in the uk for that weekend so can not attend the race.

So much to do and so easy to get to this region by car, train and planes, I hope they can keep this race going over the next few years, as I think it will be a future classic!

[Norfolkit]

This is our race this year, early Eurostar down to Marseilles on Thursday then camping under the Provencal sun, can't wait.

[andy_s]

Cheers Dr Z, looking forward to seeing a new circuit - should be interesting!

[LivingTheDream]

Can anyone explain why the corner numbering system differs here?

Elsewhere what is shown as turn 1 would be 1 and 2, same with 6. and surely that kink after 4 would have a number?

.....actually, looking at it more, the whole diagram annoys me (I know it not yours Dr Z). Why is the Mistral straight shown in the list of turns (virages) as number 5?

[Eric Mc]

How much of the Mistral Straight is left?

[thegreenhell]

After watching two hours of Circuit Paul Ricard on the TV...

[Dr Z]

stevesingo said:

We like Dr Z and his f1 GP posts :-)

Aw, thanks!

LivingTheDream said:

Can anyone explain why the corner numbering system differs here?

Elsewhere what is shown as turn 1 would be 1 and 2, same with 6. and surely that kink after 4 would have a number?

.....actually, looking at it more, the whole diagram annoys me (I know it not yours Dr Z). Why is the Mistral straight shown in the list of turns (virages) as number 5?

Yeah, it's not the most accurate track map. It's Paul Ricard's own map, and it's the one I could find with some speeds on it, that's why I chose it. I very much doubt these cars will be doing 344 km/h down the Mistral straight!

Here's a map by FOM with the correct corner numbers and sectors:

Eric Mc said:

How much of the Mistral Straight is left?

All of it, with a chicane in the middle.

[HustleRussell]

The corners before the two back straights look as though they have been specifically designed to reduce overtaking. The corner before the start / finish straight, better...

[Pebbles167]

Good start up Z. Interesting to hear a bit about the circuit, I've never watched a French GP and never watched anything racing at Paul Ricard.

Sadly I think I'll miss it as I'm working in Sweden, but I'll try avoid this thread, Instagram, facebook and all the news sites next weekend.. a rather tall order!

[Eric Mc]

Dr Z said:

All of it, with a chicane in the middle.

I always though that they had lopped some of its length - quite a while ago. Unless they have reinstated it, of course.

Per Wiki -

The track is characterised by its long Mistral straight (1.8 km, 1.1 mi) and elongated track design. The track is also unusual in that it is built on a plateau, and is very flat. In 1986 the track was modified to shorten the circuit, by adding shortcut through to the middle of the Mistral Straight. This shorter circuit is also known as the GP short circuit and is 3.813 km (2.369 mi) long. The track offers 167 possible configurations from 0.826 km (0.513 mi) to the full 5.861 km (3.642 mi)

[DanielSan]

I’m not sure whether to expect a lot of DRS overtakes or not many because they’re saving engines/can’t get close.

[anonymous-user]

Dr Z said:

All of it, with a chicane in the middle.

Wish that chicane was not there. Would have made things more interesting.

[Deesee]

ELUSIVEJIM said:

Dr Z said:

All of it, with a chicane in the middle.

Wish that chicane was not there. Would have made things more interesting.

I think the cars will already be harvesting energy half way down and slowing, by the time they get to turn 11 (sector 3) some could be sittting ducks ( rubs hands ).

[Norfolkit]

Eric Mc said:

Dr Z said:

All of it, with a chicane in the middle.

I always though that they had lopped some of its length - quite a while ago. Unless they have reinstated it, of course.

Per Wiki -

The track is characterised by its long Mistral straight (1.8 km, 1.1 mi) and elongated track design. The track is also unusual in that it is built on a plateau, and is very flat. In 1986 the track was modified to shorten the circuit, by adding shortcut through to the middle of the Mistral Straight. This shorter circuit is also known as the GP short circuit and is 3.813 km (2.369 mi) long. The track offers 167 possible configurations from 0.826 km (0.513 mi) to the full 5.861 km (3.642 mi)

Sort of right and wrong. Judging what Martin Brundle wrote in "Working The Wheel" the shortened track used just the part of the track shown on the right of Dr Z's map with a cut through from somewhere before La Verrerie and joined the Mistral straight about half way down for the run up to Signes but the original track itself wasn't shortened in any way. Tickets are available for all of the grandstands around Sainte Baume so I guess that means we're back on the long track.

[Drive Blind]

I've never seen a race at this circuit, so something new in F1 for me.

I've just watched a few onboards on youtube. I fear track limits will be getting discussed a lot.

[slipstream 1985]

HustleRussell said:

The corners before the two back straights look as though they have been specifically designed to reduce overtaking. The corner before the start / finish straight, better...

Agreed, Can't help but think from the start straight to turn one the more inside straighter route would have been better for a harder brake into turn two.

[TVR Sagaris]

Why the hell is the C4 coverage of the race on so late? Ugh.