Can Ferrari take the heat? And is it au revoir to Ricard? Six French GP talking points · RaceFans

This weekend’s French Grand Prix marks the fourth to be held at Paul Ricard since Formula 1 returned to the Le Castellet track in 2018.

However, it may prove to be the last F1 race held in the great motorsport nation as the circuit’s contract to host the race is due to expire at the end of this season.

Heading into what could be the fourth and final race at Paul Ricard, here at the six talking points for the French Grand Prix weekend.

The final French Grand Prix… for now?

Last year Paul Ricard saw by far its most interesting race since it returned to the schedule, with Max Verstappen chasing down and passing Lewis Hamilton for victory in the closing laps.

However the track, which F1 first visited in 1971, has often struggled to produce much in the way of entertainment over its three races since returning to the Formula 1 calendar. Regrettably the option of bypassing the awkward Mistral chicane, which could well have improved the spectacle, was never taken up.

With the circuit’s contract to host the French Grand Prix due to expire at the end of this season and competition over which venues will earn the right to host Formula 1 events higher than it perhaps ever has been, Paul Ricard looks to be towards the top of the list of circuits most likely to make way for other tracks on the calendar.

That could mean that this weekend may well prove to be the final French Grand Prix for the foreseeable future. But while many may not miss the track if it does indeed drop off the schedule, the loss of a race in one of Europe’s most important motorsport nations will be keenly felt. Particularly when there are two race-winning French drivers on the grid for the first time in decades, and Francophone championship contender Charles Leclerc hails from Monaco, less the 200 kilometres up the road.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali recently discussed the idea of potentially moving the French Grand Prix to a new street circuit in Nice, but there’s little to suggest this amounts to more than a tactic to apply pressure to the Monaco race promoter. If Formula 1 is to lose its race in France, hopefully it will not be long until a new and more interesting host venue can be found. But the country’s only other F1-grade track, Magny-Cours in rural Nevers, hardly fits Liberty Medias’s target for races in ‘destination cities’.

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