2018 French Grand Prix

Championship standings

Sebastian Vettel leads Lewis Hamilton by one point in the Drivers’ Championship. Mercedes lead Ferrari by seventeen points in the Constructors’.

Previous race

Vettel won from pole in Canada, taking the championship lead by one point. Bottas finished second for the fourth time this season, Verstappen third. The race result was counted back to lap 68 of 70 after the chequered flag was mistakenly shown one lap early; this did not affect the top-ten running order but altered the fastest lap, which reverted to Verstappen on lap 65 rather than Ricciardo’s laps 69–70.

Track notes

The French Grand Prix returns to the calendar for the first time since 2008, at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet — which last hosted the race in 1990 before the event moved to Magny-Cours. The race uses the 5.842 km layout, incorporating a chicane on the Mistral Straight. The circuit features two DRS zones: one along the main straight, the second on the Mistral Straight approaching the chicane.

Tyre choices

Pirelli brings the soft, supersoft, and ultrasoft compounds. Following feedback from mid-season testing at Barcelona, Pirelli reverts to the narrower tread specification across all compounds.

Practice

Hamilton was fastest in FP1, which was red-flagged with two minutes remaining after Ericsson lost control of his Sauber on the approach to turn 11, spun into the barrier, and the car caught fire. The damage was so extensive Ericsson could not take part in FP2. Several drivers also spun at turn 6 where a gusty local wind caught cars mid-corner. Hamilton led FP2 despite having his flying lap interrupted by a second red flag, called when Pérez lost a wheel onto the Mistral Straight.