The 7 post‑war French Grand Prix venues

Heritage doesn’t come any richer, then. Hey, even the traffic jams getting in and out of Paul Ricard last weekend harked back to the good old days…

From the very first Grand Prix, at Le Mans in 1906, France was the spiritual home of the new sport of motor racing. The epic races in and around towns such as Dieppe, Lyon and Tours were the prestigious highlights of the season, while magnificent Montlehéry near Paris, with its fearsome banked section, joined the likes of Spa, Monza and the Nürburgring in the 1920s as a new breed of Grand Prix venue.

Before WWII, the race already boasted more than 30 years of glorious tradition to support its status as perhaps the greatest Grand Prix of them all.

But here, we look at its F1 World Championship history from 1950, since when the race has dotted around the country to seven contrasting venues, all of which have contributed significant chapters to Grand Prix history. It’s why the modern F1 calendar has somehow felt incomplete over the course of the past decade. For anyone with motor racing in their heart, the French GP can never be just another race.

1. Reims

Situated on straight, flowing public roads just outside the historic city in the north-eastern Champagne region, the circuit offered the early world championship a link to Grand Prix racing’s pre-war road circuit traditions. Often held in gruelling heat, the French GP became known for slip-streaming epics in the 1950s. Its flat-out nature tested machinery more than driving talent, but the deadly consequence of a mistake or sudden mechanical failure made this a daunting and demanding test of nerve.

The 11 World Championship GPs held here between 1950 and ’66 included Mike Hawthorn’s frantic slip-streaming duel with Juan Manuel Fangio in ’53, which the Englishman won by a nose. The following year, Fangio took the third of his four French GP victories as Mercedes-Benz marked its return to Grand Prix racing by dominating with its game-changing W196, complete with special streamliner body.

Today, the old pit buildings remain as a reminder of a glorious past, where motor racing pilgrims love to pause and soak in echoes of a distant era.

2. Rouen-les-Essarts

This swooping road circuit situated in the pleasant outskirts of the northern town held five World Championship Grands Prix between 1952 and ’68. Another example of a fine track based on public roads, Rouen offered a welcome alternative to Reims’s flat-out straights and remains a revered French GP venue. The cobbled hairpin at the circuit’s tip was a favourite haunt for many a photographer and offered drivers a novel challenge, particularly in the rain.

Among the historical landmarks of Rouen is Dan Gurney’s victory in his Porsche 804 in 1962, not only the tall American’s first GP success, but also what turned out to be the marque’s single F1 World Championship victory. But this place is also remembered for its danger: Jo Schlesser’s fiery death in his Honda at the final Rouen GP in ’68 offered a sad F1 epitaph to a circuit that was out of step with a changing world.

3. Charade

This circuit was adapted from roads around the base of an extinct volcano. If that sounds dramatic, it is supposed to. This was another classic French venue, remembered both fondly and with fear for the challenge it offered during its four World Championship GPs held between 1965 and ’72.

The track near Clermont-Ferrand offered 48 twisting turns in just over five miles and proved a happy hunting ground for Jackie Stewart, who won two of his three French GPs here. The second, and Charade’s last in ’72, should have been Chris Amon’s. The Kiwi is forever remembered as the most unlucky F1 driver, blessed with a talent to compare comfortably with anyone, but who somehow never quite won a World Championship GP.

Amon utterly dominated the ’72 GP from pole position in his wailing Matra, destroying the lap record time and again during what is recalled as one of the greatest drives in F1 history – only for a puncture to hand the win to Stewart. Officials insisted he join the lap of honour, but shattered Amon would admit in later years that he never fully recovered from the disappointment.

4. Le Mans

The venue for that very first GP back in 1906 and the home of the world-famous 24 Hours only hosted one F1 World Championship round and that was on the short, unspectacular Bugatti circuit. In front of a relatively small crowd, Jack Brabham won the 1967 French GP here after inheriting the lead following the retirements of Graham Hill and Jim Clark in the fast but still-new and unreliable Lotus 49s. It marked the last of Brabham’s three French GP wins, having also won at Reims in his second world championship year of 1960 and at the Champagne road circuit’s final GP in ’66. F1 never returned to Le Mans, to no one’s regret.

5. Paul Ricard

The venue for last weekend’s French GP return took its bow in 1971 and quickly became established as a popular home for the race, thanks largely to its sun-kissed southern location in Le Castellet, near Marseille. Although it continued to share the race with other venues, the track named after its founder was the most regular French GP host between ’71 and ’90, with the 2018 race becoming its 15^th as venue.

Alain Prost won four of his six home wins at Ricard, although famously lost the 1982 race when team-mate Réne Arnoux supposedly ignored the Renault script to win on a day when French drivers filled the top four places.

Lewis Hamilton’s win on Sunday marked his first French GP win. He is one of only four drivers on the grid to have previously raced in the most historic GP of them all, the others being Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and 2007 winner Kimi Räikkönen.

6. Dijon-Prenois

This short, undulating circuit of sweeping bends held five French GPs between 1974 and ’84, and also the last Swiss GP of 1982, an anomaly based on the country’s ban on motor racing since the 1955 Le Mans disaster in which more than 80 spectators died.

Dijon’s biggest and best contribution to F1 history was the 1979 race. Jean-Pierre Jabouille scored a landmark first victory for a turbo engine car in his Renault – but that’s not what we remember. It was the wonderful wheel-to-wheel battle for second between his team-mate Arnoux and Ferrari’s masterful Gilles Villeneuve that stood out. The scrap between the good friends was fierce and countlessly contravened what today is known as track limits – but it was also joyously fair, and represents F1 at its very best.

7. Magny-Cours

Our final entry is probably the least magnificent of the seven, although the government-financed track built in charming countryside near Nevers holds the record for hosting the most French World Championship GPs, with 18 consecutive races between 1991 and 2008. The track was built on a relatively small piece of land and folds back in on itself in a series of unremarkable corners. Still, F1 folk enjoyed their visits – for its pleasant environ and the wine.

If Magny-Cours is associated with anyone it should be Michael Schmumacher. The German set the record here for the most GPs won in a single country and venue. He won eight times between 1994 and 2006, including the 2002 race when he equalled Fangio’s record of five world crowns – by wrapping up the title in July.

If the circuit wasn’t missed, the race’s loss to the calendar certainly was from 2009. Since then, we’ve had too many summers without a French GP. It’s good to see it back.