GP France: time schedule, standings, track info

France GP timetable

The French Grand Prix takes place at the time you are used to from most European GPs. That means the race will start at 3 p.m. on Sunday. Dutch time starts. It’s also a traditional race weekend again, so unlike two weeks ago there will be no sprint race, just three free practice sessions and a qualifying session before the race.

Championship standings

Charles Leclerc fought his way back up in the championship in Austria, but due to Max Verstappen’s second place and sprint race win, there is still a nice gap between the two. 38 points to be precise, that was 43 points before Austria. Sergio Pérez has made a big plunge due to his retirement in Austria and goes from 34 points to 57 points behind. He also drops back to third place in the standings.

We see two clear changes among the manufacturers. Ferrari has again caught up with Red Bull Racing due to a strong performance in Austria. The gap has narrowed to 56 points. Furthermore, Haas and AlphaTauri switched places. Haas climbed to seventh place and pushes AlphaTauri to eighth place. A nice boost for Haas, which finished last year without a chance. Behind the top three, there is also a fierce battle for fourth place between McLaren and Alpine.

Circuit

Circuit Paul Ricard, near Le Castellet in southern France, is well known to many drivers in various racing classes. Paul Ricard is in fact regularly used not only for racing, but also for test work. Due to its spacious layout, it has plenty of different layouts depending on which parts of the track you use. The circuit can also be made soaking wet thanks to an ingenious sprinkler system, so that even in dry weather it is possible to practice with wet track conditions. The circuit was opened 52 years ago and in 1971 the first Formula 1 Grand Prix was held. After that, it was often a matter of exchange with Dijon-Prenois, but between 1985 and 1990 Paul Ricard was continuously the setting for the French GP. F1 raced at Magny-Cours from 1991 to 2008, before returning to Paul Ricard in 2018. This year we will probably experience the last French GP for the time being, because next year the race is not yet on the calendar.

This weekend’s nearly 5.85km layout will have 53 laps completed on Sunday, resulting in a total race distance of 309.69km. The lap record is still held by Sebastian Vettel, who lapped it in 1:32,740 in 2019. Last year Max Verstappen won the race at Paul Ricard, after taking pole position in qualifying with 1:29,990. Incidentally, Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver on the current grid on the circuit with two victories at Circuit Paul Ricard. Michael Schumacher is the most successful Formula 1 driver of all time in France, having won the French Grand Prix eight times. That was always at Magny-Cours.