2021 French Grand Prix

## Lap Leader

The **2021 French Grand Prix** was a Formula 1.5 motor race which took place on 20 June 2021 at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, Var. The race was the seventh round of the 2021 Formula 1.5 World Championship. It was the 61st time the French Grand Prix has been included as a round of the Formula 1.5 World Championship since the inception of the series in 1950.

## Background

The event took place at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, Var on the weekend of 18–20 June. The French Grand Prix returned to the calendar during the 2021 Formula One World Championship after the 2020 edition was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic; this marks the 61st time it has appeared on the world championship schedule, and the 89th edition overall. It was the seventeenth Grand Prix held at Le Castellet, one of sixteen different venues which have hosted the race since the 1906 French Grand Prix, seven of which have hosted world championship races.

The race had originally been scheduled for 27 June, but was moved forward one week following the cancellation of the Canadian Grand Prix and the postponement of the Turkish Grand Prix. As a result of these changes, the French Grand Prix formed the first of three races on consecutive weekends, with the next two intended to take place at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. The addition of a fourth group of three back-to-back races to the already-crowded calendar received criticism, with concerns expressed over the workload and its effect on the mental health of workers who travel to the races. There were two people who worked at the event who had positive tests for the SARS-2 coronavirus (which can cause COVID-19) during the course of race week.

Attendance was capped at 15,000 spectators per day because of the COVID-19 pandemic in France. The large size of the venue allowed for social distancing measures to be put in place, allowing more spectators than other events in France during the pandemic. Some spectators cancelled their bookings following the date change; the organisers re-sold returned tickets. It had been planned that Romain Grosjean, who had suffered injuries at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, would make a demonstration run for Mercedes at the event, and then test for them on the Tuesday after. The former was cancelled because the rescheduled race clashed with his Indycar Series commitments at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin; while the latter was postponed due to unfavourable quarantine requirements.

### **Track changes**

A lap at the recently resurfaced circuit measures 5.842 kilometres (3.630 mi) and has fifteen corners, some of which have been reprofiled since the 2019 French Grand Prix. Changes have also been made to the pit lane entrance. There are two drag reduction system zones; one is located on the start-finish straight and the other between the seventh and eighth turns, on the first half of the Mistral Straight. The FIA Formula Three Championship and the Renault Clio Cup held support races during the weekend.

### **Tyres**

sole tyre supplier Pirelli brought the middle range of compounds in terms of hardness (the C2, C3, and C4) with the smooth tarmac at the circuit not expected to excessively wear the tyres. Following high-speed tyre failure for Lance Stroll at the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix two weeks earlier, questions had been put to Pirelli about the safety of their tyres. Pirelli's investigation into the incidents concluded that neither they nor debris on the track were responsible for the failures; rather, they concluded that "the running condition of the tyre" was to blame.

### **Regulation Changes**

The FIA, the sport's governing body, instituted new protocols for checking tyres to ensure that similar incidents would not happen again. The intention is to stop teams from running tyres at below the prescribed minimum pressure, which had been raised by two pounds per square inch (14 kPa). New scrutineering tests would also be introduced checking the flexibility of the rear wings of cars.

### **Entry list and technichal changes**

Eight constructors entered two drivers each for the race, all of whom have previously raced at Le Castellet, with no changes from the season entry list. Roy Nissany drove for Williams in the first free practice session in place of George Russell. The event was Jost Capito's first Grand Prix as the team principal of Williams. The Honda engines used by AlphaTauri would receive upgrades at this event. The Aston Martin team chose to display the logos of queer inclusivity organisation Racing Pride, a long-term partner, on their cars to mark pride month. Branding relating to tobacco company Phillip Morris International (which had featured on Ferrari's cars at previous races in the season) was removed, starting from this Grand Prix, for the remaining European rounds of the championship.

### Championship Permutations

Before the race, Norris led the Driver's Championship with 118 points, 23 more than rival Charles Leclerc. They were followed by Carlos Sainz in third and Daniel Ricciardo in fourth. In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren led with 179 points, holding a 5 point lead over Ferrari.

## Free Practice

A trio of one-hour long free practice sessions took place, two on Friday and one on Saturday before qualifying. Alpine driver Esteban Ocon was fastest ahead of Ricciardo and Alonso. Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel hit a wall during the session, but was able to return his car to the pit lane. Mick Schumacher's car was also damaged in an incident; the Haas driver span and tagged a wall. Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz Jr's tyres were damaged by the abrasive run-off area after he went off the track.

In the second free practice session Alonso set the fastest time ahead of Leclerc. In the final free practice session Sainz was fastest ahead of Norris, with Alonso third fastest. Starting from the third session, lap times were deleted if drivers left the track at the exit of the sixth corner. The FIA investigated issues regarding kerbing and decided against making changes before the session.

## Qualifying

Qualifying started at 15:00 local time on the Saturday, in dry conditions at a temperature of 28.4 °C (83.1 °F). Qualifying consisted of three sessions, with the slowest five drivers having their qualifying positions set after each of the first two sessions. The first part of qualifying (Q1) was paused after AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda span off into a barrier, and then stopped with half a minute remaining on the clock when Schumacher crashed. His crash prevented some other drivers from having an opportunity to set a faster lap than him, allowing him to qualify 11th, the best result of his career up to that point. Stroll, who had had a lap time deleted after he went off the track at the sixth turn, was unable to set a representative lap time because of the premature conclusion to the session. Kimi Räikkönen and Nicholas Latifi were also unable to complete their final runs; Latifi qualified twelth with a time 0.002 seconds slower than his Williams teammate, Russell, in eleventh.

Sainz was fastest in the second session (Q2), where most drivers set their times on the medium tyres. Russell used the soft tyres for his first run, before improving on the mediums on his second run, while Alfa Romeo Racing driver Antonio Giovinazzi changed to the softs to beat Russell to ninth. Alpine F1 Team driver Esteban Ocon was unable to replicate his pace in Q1 during this session and qualified seventh. Vettel similarly found himself slower in Q2, qualifying 8th. Norris had to abandon his final run because his car was running out of fuel, but his earlier time was sufficient to allow him to progress to the final segment. Schumacher's Q1 crash meant his Haas was too badly damaged to participate in Q2, although the team were able to repair the damage before the race without incurring penalties.

Sainz set the fastest time of the final segment (Q3) to claim pole position ahead of Gasly.

## Race

The race started at 15:00 local time on Sunday. It was run over 53 laps with a distance of 309.690 kilometres (192.432 mi). Tsunoda started the race from the pit lane due to damage his car sustained in qualifying and subsequent car repairs. The weather was cooler for the race than it was for the free and qualifying practice sessions. It had rained on the morning of the race, removing rubber from the track and thus changing the driving conditions. The tarmac was rougher than it had been before, increasing the rate at which tyres would become worn out and lose grip. While cloud cover remained, the track had dried and it did not rain during the race.

Norris lost positions off the start, whilst Alonso fell three places behind loosing out to Ricciardo, Norris and Vettel. Over the first 14 laps Stroll gained six places. On the fourteenth lap Leclerc became the first driver to pull into the pit lane for new tyres, beginning the initial round of pit stops. Ricciardo came in for his tyre change on the sixteenth lap, one lap before Gasly, which allowed him to move ahead of the Alpha Tauri driver. Alonso made a pit stop on the eighteenth lap to allow his teammate Ocon clear air.

Aston Martin started both of their drivers on hard tyres and waited until the 34th lap for Stroll's only pit stop and the 37th for Vettel's stop, which allowed both drivers to move up into the top ten. Aston Martin and Vettel had also found an advantage by pitting late at the preceding rounds in Monaco and Azerbaijan. Vettel's pit stop was not the fastest, and he felt that if it were quicker he could have gained positions. Gasly claimed third position after he passed Sainz on the 36th lap. Tyre wear meant Leclerc had to pit again on the 38th lap, dropping him to 12th place.

Norris won the race ahead of teammate Daniel Ricciardo to make it the first McLaren one-two of the year. McLaren were more competitive during the race than they were in qualifying. Gasly finished the podium with third place. Stroll, who started 15th finished in the points, just behind his teammate Sebastian Vettel.

Championship rival Charles Leclerc failed to score finishing twelth after starting third. Russell finished 8th, the best finish for Williams so far in 2021.

## Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

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Constructors' Championship standings

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## External Links

1. ↑  Lance Stroll failed to set a time within the 107% requirement and was permitted to race at the stewards' discretion
2. ↑  Yuki Tsunoda failed to set a time during qualifying and was permitted to race at the stewards' discretion. He received a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change. This made no difference as he was already due to start from last place. He was then required to start the race from the pit lane for a floor and suspension setup change in parc fermé.
3. ↑  Includes one point for fastest lap