F1 French Grand Prix Preview: What to Expect on Sunday

With Formula 1 moving to southern France for the 2022 French Grand Prix, the European portion of the season is already well underway. The Circuit Paul Ricard starts the second double-header of racing in July before F1 enters its summer break in August.

After many underwhelming events, the French Grand Prix hasn’t exactly gained much popularity since its return to the Formula 1 schedule. That wasn’t the case last year, though, when Mercedes and Red Bull engaged in a battle of the Pirelli tyres that kept the race exciting all the way to the finish line. So will tyres once again prove to be the deciding factor at the Le Castellet track with the French Riviera experiencing the same heatwave as the rest of Europe?

Will there be a 2023 French GP?

The French and Belgian GP are rumoured to be gone from the 2023 F1 schedule. In addition, circuit Paul Ricard may be leaving the schedule, despite rumours that Spa would return every other season.

This is partly due to the fury over Spa losing its slot on the calendar and the generally neutral response to Paul Ricard. However, this only demonstrated that race fans weren’t very concerned with whether the French GP remained on the schedule.

Can teams beat the heat?

The weather is, of course, one of the most crucial variables before every Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend because it may significantly affect the results. Formula 1 teams are constantly focused on this aspect to evaluate and select their strategy options accordingly, such as using different tyres in wet conditions and considering crosswinds that can cause stability problems at high speeds. From the perspective of the Formula 1 teams, different weather conditions can result in very different races.

The circuit for this weekend’s 2022 F1 French GP will experience similar temperatures to the rest of Europe, which is now experiencing a heatwave with temperatures in certain countries going above 40 degrees. Tire life will be critical due to the increasing temperatures and high-speed stretches, such as the whole sector 3.

In the past, Red Bull and Mercedes have succeeded in the heat, while teams like Ferrari have suffered a bit.

Will Mercedes catch up?

One of the team’s few bright spots this season has been Mercedes’ reliability. As a result, this weekend’s race looks one of the strongest for the Silver Arrows. Even with George Russell’s retirement at the British Grand Prix after the opening lap, they are currently having their best three-race streak of the season.

The major modifications made to the W13 during the Spanish Grand Prix in late May were intended to enhance the car’s handling in medium-to-high speed corners, and they seemed successful. Although it seemed difficult for Mercedes to win two consecutive street circuit races, Russell could still finish third and earn a podium spot. Hamilton has since finished on the podium in all three of the races.

Mercedes can anticipate to make the most of the Paul Ricard circuit and hopefully get even closer to Red Bull than they did in Austria, where both Hamilton and Russell appeared to be among their rivals in qualifying before separate mistakes caused both to crash out. The Paul Ricard circuit is one of the fastest of the season by average lap speed, and it only has a small number of truly slow corners.

Although Mercedes’ single-lap performance appears to have significantly improved in recent races, race pace is a different story. If Mercedes are to catch up sufficiently to start contending for race victories, there is still work to be done.

Can Ocon bring points on his home turf?

Esteban Ocon has been continuously providing his team with points, likely outperforming Fernando Alonso in that regard. Ocon will probably put on a strong performance for the French fans this weekend because it is his home race.

Following his first victory at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, Esteban Ocon will have his home crowd debut while driving in a race and will be honoured with his own grandstand at the French Grand Prix in 2022.