Formula 1: Looking back at the last five French Grands Prix at Circuit Paul Ricard

It’s been 10 years since Formula 1 raced in France and 28 years since the sport raced at Circuit Paul Ricard. What do the 1980s tell us about racing in 2018?

After a 10-year hiatus, Formula 1 finally returns to its roots in France. Thankfully, F1 organizers have decided to go back to the Circuit Paul Ricard near Marseille rather than the remote Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, where the last French Grand Prix was held back in the 2008 season.

The last time the French Grand Prix was contested at Circuit Paul Ricard, the grid featured a host of legendary names and the politics of F1 hadn’t reached their apex yet. While the track will be brand new for the current drivers, let’s take a look back at the golden era of Grand Prix racing. Let’s look back at the last five races at Circuit Paul Ricard in the 1980s and 1990s.

1986

Ayrton Senna was on pole for the 1986 race. The hotshot 26-year-old Brazilian put his John Player Special Lotus 98T ahead of Nigel Mansell in the Honda-powered Williams FW11 after qualifying. Mansell’s teammate Nelson Piquet was just behind him in P3.

With two Williams breathing down his neck, Senna had one of the worst races of his career after a dominant performance at the previous race in Detroit. Senna crashed on lap three in a crash that took out two others, Piercarlo Ghinzani and Alessandro Nannini.

However, Senna wasn’t the only notable name to retire. Others included Alan Jones, Gerhard Berger, Andrea de Cesaris and Patrick Tambay. In all, 14 drivers retired from the race either due to accidents or mechanical failures. Despite all of the incidents, the race featured no safety car periods.

Mansell started well and took the lead into turn one. He led twice more, as he swapped the lead with McLaren’s Alain Prost, who started P5. The two rivals kept the lead between them with Mansell getting the last laugh, as he led the last 22 laps to claim a convincing 17.128-second victory over the Frenchman. He also recorded the fastest lap of the race. Piquet held station and gave Williams a 1-3 finish.

1987

For the 1987 race, Mansell put Williams on pole with Prost alongside of him. Senna was P3 next to Piquet. Despite the mixed grid, once again, the 1987 race was all about Mansell. The Briton scored a dominant pole to flag victory with help from Piquet, ,who took P2, thus giving Williams a 1-2 finish. Mansell led 70 of the race’s 80 laps.

Williams were so dominant that only the podium finishers finished on the lead lap. Senna finished a lap down and 16 cars encountered terminal mechanical problems and had to retire. The lowest finisher, Satoru Nakajima, Senna’s teammate, was lapped nine times by Mansell, who won the race by 7.711 seconds over Piquet in P2 and Prost in P3.

1988

The 1988 race was possibly Prost’s single greatest race. The Frenchman, now paired with Senna at McLaren-Honda in the legendary MP4-4, gave his new teammate no quarter during his home race and ran away with the pole to flag victory. In dominant fashion, the Frenchman beat his teammate by more than a massive half-minute, 31.752 seconds to be exact.

Once more, only the podium finishers finished on the lead lap. Prost lapped all but the podium finishers at least once. He lapped Luis Perez-Sala of Minardi a total of 10 times. Those who weren’t lapped and did not finish on the podium, retired due to mechanical problems. In all, 10 drivers were forced to retire.

1989

Prost and Senna qualified 1-2 for the 1989 race, but Senna’s McLaren MP4-5 suffered a terminal differential problem before the start of the race and was forced to retire without completing a lap. With his teammate back in the garage at the start, Prost easily dispatched the rest of the grid, leading all 80 laps, and had it not been for a last-minute fastest lap if the race by Leyton House Racing’s Mauricio Gugelmin, who Prost lapped nine times, the Frenchman would have scored a Grand Chelem.

Either way, the 1989 French Grand Prix showed the grid the power of the Honda engine in Prost’s McLaren, as it helped the Frenchman earn a 44.017-second victory over Mansell, who now drove for Scuderia Ferrari, in P2.