F1 France 2021 Grand Prix Preview and Race Prediction

Baku saw a surprise podium with the forgotten men of last season, who all made a huge statement. Once again, a Red Bull took P1 but it wasn’t the car of Verstappen, who suffered a blown tire towards the end of the race, allowing his teammate Perez to take P1.

If that wasn’t enough of a surprise, P2 saw the Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel drive an incredible race mixed with the fortune of Verstappen and Hamilton dropping out. Gasly took P3 in yet another very competent performance for the French in the Alpha Tauri, the shock ending to the race saw Verstappen maintain his lead in the championship with 105 points, four points ahead of Hamilton who has 101 after both failing to score.

F1 France 2021 Grand Prix Track Details

Work began on pastis magnate Paul Ricard’s track in 1969, with French racers Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Henri Pescarolo acting as consultants on the layout. Racing began at the circuit a year later. Formula 1 hit the Circuit Paul Ricard in 1971, with Jackie Stewart winning the inaugural race in his Tyrrell 003.

The Circuit Paul Ricard’s even distribution of high, medium and low-speed corners is a key reason it’s one of the most used test circuits globally (the typically good weather is another). F1 drivers love the 290km/h right-hander at Signes and the 5g joyride of the following Beausset bend, while the circuit’s 2018 return to the F1 calendar showed that the French Grand Prix track is a bit of an overtaking gem.

Circuit length – 5.842 km

Number of laps – 53

Race distance – 309.690 km

Lap record – 1:32.740 – Vettel (2019)

Race Recap

Lewis Hamilton’s immense run of form continued on as the reigning world champion took a commanding lights-to-flag victory in the 2019 French Grand Prix, his sixth triumph in eight races for the season, crossing the line 18 seconds clear of team mate Valtteri Bottas. With his 200th career points finish, Hamilton extended his lead over the Finn to 36 points. Mercedes’ eighth successive victory of 2019 and their sixth one-two maintained their unbeaten record. Charles Leclerc completed the podium after a lonely race to third.

F1 France 2021 Grand Prix Prediction

This race is wide open with the 290km/h right-hander and the past races here known for overtaking. In all honesty, anybody in the top 10 on recent performances have a good shot at the podium.

Although the Red Bull appears to have the performance advantage in recent races, the Mercedes appears to have had a dip in form outside of another tremendous performance by GOAT contender Lewis Hamilton. Until locking up on breaking, Hamilton was on for another top 2 finish.

No doubt Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton will again be at the forefront of this race, both looking to make amends for missing out on points in Baku, Sergio Perez will be pushing for the podium and potentially Hamilton for P2.

The form of Bottas has dipped hugely in recent races could the talk of being replaced in 2022 taking the edge from the man from Finland, The Ferrari of Leclerc and Sainz has been munched improved in recent races created an enthralling challenge with the McLaren of Norris and Ricciardo the latter still with much to prove.

With two high scoring finishes from two of the most demanding tracks on the calendar, Sebastian Vettel has emerged from the shadow of Stroll at Aston Martin, who had started the season the better of the two drivers but the former Champion Vettel has started to show there is still life left in him yet.

An impressive P3 from Gasly last time out along with a much improved P7 from Tsunoda saw both Alpha Tauri finish with very important points for the constructor battle.

A P6 for Alonso last time out will have definitely helped the confidence of the Spaniard hopefully leading to an interesting battle between the two former Champions Vettel and Alonso, Ocon will be looking to improve on the early retirement he suffered in Baku.

The Iceman Kimi Raikkonen managed a nice point finish last time out. If he or his teammate Giovinazzi can manage a point finish in France, Alfa Romeo will no doubt be pleased.

Baku saw the Haas team of Mick Schumacher and Mazepin finish ahead of their main competition for the season the Williams of Russell who failed to finish and Latifi who came in 16th nearly 30 seconds behind Hamilton in 15th and had his late issues.

Haas will be looking for similar morale-boosting performance this time out and Russell will be looking to show he is the man to replace Bottas in his Mercedes seat.

F1 France 2021 Grand Prix Prediction –

Winner : Max Verstappen

So, there you have it, my prediction for the F1 France 2021 Grand Prix. Do you agree with my predictions for the Grand Prix? Leave your opinion down below in the comments!

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