Circuit

Circuit Paul Ricard

France · 18 grands prix

The Circuit Paul Ricard, at Le Castellet in southern France, is instantly recognisable for its blue-and-red striped run-off areas. It hosted the French Grand Prix over several eras and returned to the calendar from 2018 to 2022.

The opening chicane, named for a former glassworks. Elio de Angelis died in a 1986 testing crash at the fast Verrerie curves here, later bypassed, and Charles Leclerc led into it from pole in 2022.
The second part of the opening Verrerie chicane.
A downhill right-hander into the technical sequence that sets up the Mistral straight.
The low-speed left-hander completing the Hotel sequence.
A low-speed right-hander, widened in the 2017 to 2018 refurbishment before F1's return.
A tight right-hander that sets up the run down the Mistral straight; gusty wind caught several drivers out here in 2018 practice.
A flat-out left-hand kink feeding onto the Mistral straight and its DRS zone.
The hardest braking zone on the lap, a chicane inserted mid-way along the Mistral straight to create overtaking; Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda collided here on lap 1 of 2022.
The second part of the Mistral Chicane.
A very high-speed, near-flat-out right-hander at the end of the Mistral, taken around 290 km/h; Ayrton Senna went off backwards here after an engine failure in 1985.
A long double-apex right-hander that Formula 1 calls a five-G joyride; Marcus Ericsson crashed on the approach here in 2018 practice.
A medium-speed left-hander offering several racing lines, reshaped in the 2017 to 2018 refurbishment.
A flat-out right-hand kink, named for the Garlaban massif, linking into the Lac corner.
A long, high-speed left-hander approached around 296 km/h, reshaped in the 2018 refurbishment.
The slow final right-hander, the slowest point of the lap, prioritising exit onto the pit straight.

Winners by year

2022Max VerstappenRed Bull
2021Max VerstappenRed Bull
2019Lewis HamiltonMercedes
2018Lewis HamiltonMercedes
1990Alain ProstFerrari
1989Alain ProstMcLaren
1988Alain ProstMcLaren
1987Nigel MansellWilliams
1986Nigel MansellWilliams
1985Nelson PiquetBrabham
1983Alain ProstRenault
1982René ArnouxRenault
1980Alan JonesWilliams
1978Mario AndrettiTeam Lotus
1976James HuntMcLaren
1975Niki LaudaFerrari
1973Ronnie PetersonTeam Lotus
1971Jackie StewartTyrrell