Allez allez allez! We\u2019re back with another Grand Prix preview \u2013 this time from le grand country of France! It\u2019s been nearly a fortnight since Sebastian Vettel came in first place at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada, he managed to edge slightly ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the overall driver standings with 121 points to Hamilton\u2019s 120. With everything to play for in Le Castellet this weekend, it\u2019s about time for Karting Nation\u2019s preview of the French Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
Le Castellet has a time difference of +1 hour when compared to BST. So, you can expect this race to start at the later UK time of 3.10pm. So, if you\u2019re looking forward to a lie in this Sunday morning, you\u2019ll be glad to know you\u2019ll certainly have time for one!<\/p>\n
Taking place on the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet in southern France, the French Grand Prix has built up a rich history over time \u2013 the first race was held there back in 1906! However, despite its history, this year\u2019s edition is the first to be held in the country since 2008. The French Grand Prix has spanned multiple tracks over the years, with the most recent track being Magny-Cours in central France. 2018 sees the return to Circuit Paul Ricard \u2013 the first time since 1990. As the name suggests, the track was built by French industrialist Paul Ricard, who wanted to experience the challenge of designing and building a race track. Since then, the track has gone from strength to strength – it now boasts a private jet landing strip and even a karting test track!<\/p>\n
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The 5.842 km circuit is characterised by its long Mistral straight and elongated track design. The French Grand Prix has been a successful place for a number of F1 drivers over the years. Namely Michael Schumacher \u2013 who else \u2013 who has clocked up a total of eight wins from 1994 to 2006. Just behind him with six wins is French F1 legend Alain Prost, along with Mon\u00e9gasque racing driver Louis Chiron who has stepped onto that winners\u2019 podium in first place five times. Current drivers Kimi R\u00e4ikk\u00f6nen and Fernando Alonso have both had the pleasure of winning the French Grand Prix in 2007 and 2005, respectively.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s French Grand Prix is a tough one to predict, as the race hasn\u2019t been held in France for ten years. Going off form alone, Ferrari\u2019s Sebastian Vettel is the one to watch, having managed to hold on to win the race in Canada two weeks ago. Prior to that race, he also managed to come in second at Monaco back in May. Brit Lewis Hamilton\u2019s form has been fluctuating as of late. Despite coming in a disappointing fifth place in Canada two weeks ago, Hamilton has managed to make the podium five times out of seven races.<\/p>\n
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Ricciardo will be looking to continue his good form following his win in Monaco four weeks ago. Also looking dangerous are the two Finnish drivers of Valtteri Bottas and Kimi R\u00e4ikk\u00f6nen \u2013 who will be looking to pick up some points for their Mercedes and Ferrari teams. We all know that anything can happen in F1, so it\u2019d be silly not to mention Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes and Red Bull\u2019s Daniel Ricciardo, who are certainly not out of contention just yet.<\/p>\n
The French Grand Prix can be one of the best races of the F1 calendar, and as the race hasn\u2019t been held at this circuit since 1990, this just adds to the excitement of it all! As we always say here at Karting Nation, make sure you tune in so you don\u2019t miss out on all the action! Whilst the race begins at 3.10pm UK time this Sunday, 24th June, there\u2019s also the practice rounds which start today at 11am BST, followed by qualifying on Saturday 23rd June with the action kicking off at 3pm. Don\u2019t miss out!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Allez allez allez! We\u2019re back with another Grand Prix preview \u2013 this time from le grand country of France! It\u2019s been nearly a fortnight since Sebastian Vettel came in first place at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada, he managed to edge slightly ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the overall driver standings with 121…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,4],"tags":[271031,14673,13,271030,25],"class_list":["post-5847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-formula-one","tag-circuit-paul-ricard","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-french-grand-prix","tag-karting-nation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kartingnation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kartingnation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kartingnation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kartingnation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kartingnation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5847"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kartingnation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6088,"href":"https:\/\/kartingnation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5847\/revisions\/6088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kartingnation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kartingnation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kartingnation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}