An introduction to the French Grand Prix
One of the more classic Grand Prix races in the F1 World Championship calendar is the French Grand Prix. The so-called 'Grand Prix' races were run in France long before the F1 World Championship Grand Prix was created. The first ever 'Grand Prix' took place at Le Mans in 1906. The French Grand Prix has been on the calendar since F1's inception in 1950.
France is a country that has a long history of motor racing and probably has more racing circuits and street circuits than any country in the world. It has also hosted the French Grand Prix over the past 40 odd years at no less than seven different venues: Rouen Less Essarts, Clermont-Ferrand Louis Rosier, Castellet Paul Richard, Reims, Le Mans Bugatti and Dijon-Prenois. The Nevers Magny-Cours circuit is the latest host, boasting a driving school that is famous for having turned out some legendary drivers, such as Francois Cevert, Patrick Depailler, Jean-Pierre Jarier and Jacques Laffite. Some of these are street tracks, some custom built racing circuits, all boasting a bit of the motor racing history of France. The Nevers Magny-Cours circuit has established itself as the home of the French Grand Prix, hosting it since 1991.
The French Grand Prix is riddled with famous wins, infamous accidents and tragedies. Winners of the French Grand Prix include the line-up of famous drivers, such as Luigi Faglioli in the 1950s, Jackie Stewart and Jackie Ickx in the 1960s, Jack Brabham winning the French Grand Prix the only time it was hosted by Le Mans in 1967 and the fatal accident of driver Jo Schlesser in Rouen in 1968. In the 1981 French Grand Prix a young Alain Prost won his first ever F1 Grand Prix. The last three races were won consecutively by; Fernando Alonso (Spain) in 2005 for Renault, Michael Schumacher (Germany) in 2006 for Ferrari, and Kimi Räikkönen (Finland) in 2007 for Ferrari as well.
Bring your suntan lotion, as it is likely to be a hot racing weekend at Magny-Cours. At previous French Grand Prix weekends, it became so hot that the race organizers had to have the fire brigade come to hose down the spectators!