After stopping just outside the European border, at least the geographical one, Formula One returns to the old continent, where it will remain, barring surprises, at least until the Italian Grand Prix (10 – 12 September). Next appointment: Le Castellet, a municipality located in the south of France in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. The first of the triple header which will end with the double Austrian event and will accompany us until the beginning of July.
The Paul Ricard circuit, which returned to the calendar in 2018 after hosting 15 editions of the French Grand Prix between 1971 and 1990 (the first won by Jackie Stewart with the Tyrrell 003), was forced to give up last year’s event to due to the anti-covid regulations in force on transalpine soil.
2021 France GP Preview: Aerodynamics and DRS
The Paul Ricard circuit has several available configurations and extensive escape routes. So vast that it is almost impossible for a driver to reach the impact with the barriers. It remains a fairly new track and despite being often used as a test location, especially by Pirelli, in recent times it has only been used two times for racing. This means that there are only have a few points of reference, for both drivers and teams. It is a track where we can find a large variance in the type of corners, with a prevalence at medium-high speed located in the first and third sectors, which means that one might think of favoring the use of medium-high downforce levels.
However, the presence of the long Mistral straight, makes Paul Ricard a medium load track as teams need to be able to count on good balance and good traction: these will be aspects that will play an important role especially in the exit of the slow sections, in particular in the turns of the third sector, and in the frequent changes of direction. Since the drivers will be able to use the mobile wing along the straight line of the finish line and on the straight of the Mistral leading to the North Chicane, the braking of Turn 1 and Turn 8 will certainly be the points where the main action will occur and overtaking will take place. Opportunities that could also accrue in Turn 3 at the end of the short straight section where drivers will get to use seventh gear.
2021 France GP Preview: Power units, fuels and transmission
The French circuit is quite sensitive to power, on average severe for the engine while not very severe for the braking system and gearbox. It does not present significant issues even with regard to fuel consumption. It is therefore expected that the bulk of the electricity recovery, in this case will be supported by the MGU-H in those four fast sections, of which we have previously discussed, that will be covered with the throttle completely open.
Although Brembo has attributed a difficulty index of 2 out of 5, as you will learn more about later, even the MGU-K will certainly make a good contribution on the energy front, especially at the moment of braking at turn-8, where the system will work for more than two seconds. The transmission, on the other hand, is decidedly less stressed, recording among the lowest gearshifts of the entire Formula 1 season: just over 2100 shifts during the Grand Prix, about 40 per lap.
Preview of the French GP 2021: Braking system
According to Brembo technicians, the Paul Ricard circuit is one of the least challenging tracks in terms of the braking system. On a scale of 1 to 5, it achieved a difficulty rating of 2, the lowest of the season along with Silverstone and Suzuka. Formula One drivers will be required to use the brakes for more than 15.7 seconds per lap. Value similar to the Bahrain Grand Prix even if the Sakhir track is known to be shorter than 400 meters: in France, during the race, the braking system will be used for 17% of the total time, while at the Bahrain International Circuit for 18%.
All braking periods requiring a braking time of more than two seconds are concentrated in the central part of the track, even if the driver will be stressed with quite different loads and decelerations. There is only one point where the force acting on the pedal will exceed 100 kg, which is quite unusual for a Formula 1 circuit. Generally there are at least a couple of them in all the other tracks on the calendar. Of the 15 curves present, the system will be used only on 8 occasions of which only one is classified as demanding for the brakes, two at medium intensity, while the other five are defined as soft.
The most challenging is undoubtedly the one to be made at the entrance of Turn 8, the chicane that cuts the 1.8 km Mistral straight in two. Cars arrive at 349 km / h and then enter at 140 km / h. The braking distance is about 126 meters and it is covered in 2.09 seconds, producing a load on the brake pedal of 143 kg. The deceleration suffered by the driver in this circumstance is equal to 5.3 g.
Leave a Reply