Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix of France 2019 – A tricky Saturday

Posted: 22.06.2019
Source: Ferrari

Le Castellet, 22 June 2019 – Scuderia Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel will start the 60th French Grand Prix from the third and seventh places on the grid respectively. The race gets underway at the Le Castellet circuit at 15.10 CET tomorrow.

Q1. Both drivers made the cut to Q2 without any problems, running the Soft tyres. Charles did a 1’31”441 on his first run, improving to 1’30”647. Sebastian’s first flying lap produced a 1’31”846 and he improved to 1’31”075

Q2. The Scuderia Ferrari duo then let the tyres cool down before setting off again to post laps of 1’29”934 and 1’30”128 respectively. At this point, getting to Q3 was not a foregone conclusion, so to make sure and to allow the drivers to start the race on less worn tyres, both SF90s were sent back out on track with new Medium tyres. Sebastian posted a 1’29”506 and Charles did a 1’29”699.

Q3. In the final top ten shoot-out, Charles and Sebastian once again ran the Softs, but while the Monegasque driver did a 1’29”015, the German lost time and decided to abort his run, pitting for fresh tyres. Leclerc did a second run on new Softs, getting down to 1’28”965 to secure third spot on the grid, behind pole man Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. On his only attempt at taking pole position, Sebastian did a 1’29”799, which puts him in seventh place.

Charles Leclerc #16
“It has been a good weekend so far and I have felt comfortable in the car since FP1. For the past few weeks, my main target has been improving the car set up in order to suit the track evolution from Q1 to Q3. From this point of view, I am satisfied with my personal performance and have definitely made a step forward.
On the other hand, we are not where we should be, relative to our competitors in terms of lap times. We have a lot of work to do and I will push to have a good start in order to challenge them during the race tomorrow.”

Sebastian Vettel #5
“It was a bit of a funny session, as I didn’t get a consistent feel for the car and didn’t extract the maximum out of it, so I can’t be happy with that. On the last lap I just didn’t have the same feeling as during other parts of the session and that’s why we didn’t qualify where we should be. The car was better than where we ended up.
On the other hand, I am looking forward to tomorrow. It will be difficult to manage the tyres, but in the race, usually things settle down so it’s much more straightforward and should be more consistent, so let’s see what tomorrow brings.”

Mattia Binotto Team Principal
“We knew before coming here that this weekend would be more difficult than usual for us. Nevertheless, I think that compared to the Spanish Grand Prix, we have made a small step in the right direction, which is what we were looking to do.
Sebastian was not happy with his tyres in Q3. However, tomorrow’s race will be long, as are the straights, so there should be plenty of opportunities to move up the order.”

 

Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix of France 2019 – Charles and Sebastian all set for qualifying

Posted: 22.06.2019
Source: Ferrari

Le Castellet, 22 June 2019 –Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel used the final free practice session of the French Grand Prix to fine tune their SF90s in preparation for qualifying, which gets underway at 3pm today.

28 laps. Charles and Sebastian concentrated on optimising the car for use on a qualifying lap, completing a total of 28 laps. The Monegasque driver posted a best time of 1’30”605, good enough to be third fastest behind Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton. Sebastian was fourth in 1’30”633.

Race. After today’s qualifying, which starts at 3pm, establishes the grid order, the 60thFrench Grand Prix will get underway at 15.10 tomorrow.

 

Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix of France 2019 – An evaluation day

Posted: 21.06.2019
Source: Ferrari

Le Castellet, 21 June 2019 – It was a very busy free practice Friday for Scuderia Ferrari in preparation for the French Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel worked on evaluating various updates brought to the Le Castellet circuit, as well as getting on with the usual qualifying and race preparation.

FP1. In the first session, the two SF90s took to the track for a few laps before pitting to have fitted some new components introduced for the French race. Charles and Sebastian then returned on track running just the Soft tyres, doing 21 and 22 laps respectively. The man from Monaco had a best lap of 1.33.111, which put him third, while the German was fifth in 1’33”790.

FP2. At the start of the afternoon session, Sebastian went out first on Medium then on Soft tyres while Charles ran the Medium compound. Both men then did some low fuel runs during which they set their fastest lap times. The number 16 SF90 stopped the clocks in 1.31.586, while in car number 5, Sebastian did a 1.31.665. In the second half of the session they also did some high fuel load runs to simulate some sections of the race, while assessing the behaviour of the car and tyres when track temperatures were in excess of 50 degrees.

Programme. The final free practice session starts at noon tomorrow, while qualifying gets underway at 3 pm. The 60th French Grand Prix begins on Sunday at 15.10.

Charles Leclerc #16
“I am generally happy with how our sessions went today. The feeling in the car was good and we tested some new parts. We are confident but we still have a lot of work ahead of us to put the car in the best condition for a strong qualifying.
Our competitors are strong and we must focus on ourselves to really put everything together for tomorrow. It was fun to drive on this circuit again. It is a bit of a different track to the others because the walls are so far away that you can push and try more during practice. I look forward to being back in the car tomorrow morning.”

Sebastian Vettel #5
 ”I would say we have a lot of work ahead of us since not all the new parts we have here performed exactly as expected. I think we have a lot of data to analyze overnight, to possibly have a bit better performance tomorrow. On the Canada matter I would say we felt that we didn’t share the opinion of the stewards during the race in Canada and we thought that we could bring something new. It is disappointing that the matter is not going any further but that is what we have now and so we have to move on.”

 

Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix of France 2019 – Free practice 2: Charles third, Sebastian fourth

Posted: 21.06.2019
Source: Ferrari

Le Castellet, 21 June 2019 – The result of the second session followed pretty much the same patter as the first, with the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel finishing up third and fourth behind the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton.

63 laps. Between them the two SF90s completed 63 laps, 31 for the Monegasque driver and 32 for the German. Charles’ best time was a 1’31”586, with Sebastian posting a quickest lap of 1’31’665.

Saturday. The final hour of free practice starts at noon tomorrow, while qualifying gets underway at 3pm. The French Grand Prix begins on Sunday at 15.10.

 

Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix of France 2019 – Free practice 1: Charles third, Sebastian fifth

Posted: 21.06.2019
Source: Ferrari

Le Castellet, 21 June 2019 – At the end of the first free practice session for the French Grand Prix at the Le Castellet circuit, Charles Leclerc was third quickest and Sebastian Vettel was fifth.

43 laps. Their SF90s, Charles completed 21 laps with Sebastian doing 22. The Monegasque driver’s best time was a 1’33”111, while Sebastian stopped the clocks in 1’33”790.

Second session. The cars are back on track for a further 90 minutes at 15h00.

 

 

Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix of France 2019 – “Maximising our potential”

Posted: 20.06.2019
Source: Ferrari

Le Castellet, 20 June 2019 – Activities got underway today for Scuderia Ferrari, in preparation for the French Grand Prix. The engineers began planning the schedule for Friday’s free practice sessions and went along with Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel on the usual track inspection, walking round the 5.842 kilometre-long Paul Ricard track.

With the media. Both drivers had their usual press meeting in the afternoon. Sebastian Vettel said he was very happy to be getting back behind the wheel: “We have a few new parts on the car, trying a few things,” said the German. “Tomorrow will be very important for us. The track is not exactly the same as last year as some sections have been resurfaced and this circuit has a bit of everything. We hope the data we get tomorrow will show that we can make a step forward in the areas that, so far, have been our weak points. We know our car is very competitive in terms of straight line performance, but we lack a bit of grip in the corners, so we lose or gain time depending on which track we are at. Here we have a good mix of both elements, including some corners that could potentially be difficult for us, but we have some updates that should see us make a step forward.”

On the attack. Next to face the media in the Scuderia Ferrari motorhome was Charles Leclerc. Yesterday, in Bandol, a town close to the circuit, he took part in a charity football match, in memory of Jules Bianchi. The Monegasque driver said he was ready to push really hard to do well on this track, which is but 200 kilometres from his home in Monte Carlo. “Everyone thinks I know this track well because it’s very close to where I live, but to tell the truth, last year was my first time racing here,” he explained. “However, the kart track where I first raced is in Brignoles, which is very near here, so I’m happy to be here.” As for his expectations for this weekend, like all the drivers, Leclerc said he was aiming for a top result. “I’d like to take pole, but if that’s not possible, you can be sure I will be trying my utmost to get the very best result I can on Saturday. The same applies on Sunday, but before that, we need to think about free practice when we will try and understand how to maximise the potential of our package.”

Programme. The first two free practice sessions for the French Grand Prix take place tomorrow at 11 and at 3pm. On Saturday, the final hour of preparation prior to qualifying is at noon, while the pursuit of pole begins at 3 in the afternoon. The 60th French Grand Prix gets underway at 15.10 on Sunday.

 

Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix of France 2019 – “It all began in France”

Posted: 18.06.2019
Source: Ferrari

Maranello, 18 June 2019 – The 60th French Grand Prix to count towards the Formula 1 World Championship takes place this weekend at the Paul Ricard circuit near the commune of Le Castellet in the south of France. It is the eighth round of this season and the 16th time the circuit has hosted the race. The French Grand Prix dates back to the earliest days of motorsport and the very first Grand Prix motor race was the 1906 French Grand Prix. The name of the race, “Grand Prix” translating as “Big Prize” proved to be true as the winner was presented with 45,000 Francs, equal to approximately 13 kilos of gold. This race has been held at seven different venues and Scuderia Ferrari has won it 17 times.

Reims and Rouen. In 1950, the first year of the world championship, the French round was held at Reims, but the Scuderia’s first win came when the race had moved to Rouen in 1952. Alberto Ascari did the honours at the wheel of a 500. The following year, the Maranello marque duly won at Reims, with Englishman Mike Hawthorn taking his first win. There were four more victories at Reims, Peter Collins (1956), Hawthorn again (1958), Tony Brooks (1960) and Giancarlo Baghetti who amazingly took an incredible win in the 156F1 on his debut in the category in 1961. The very last win for Ferrari at this track came in 1968, courtesy of Jacky Ickx.

Le Castellet. The Paul Ricard circuit first hosted the French Grand Prix in 1971, but Scuderia Ferrari had to wait for its first victory in the hills of the Var region until 1975, when Niki Lauda did the honours. Today, the track offers no fewer than 167 different configurations. Its most famous feature is the very long Mistral straight and the extremely high speed and challenging Signes corner: in the old days, journalists would spectate from there to listen out and decide which drivers were taking it flat out.

In 1990. Scuderia Ferrari’s second win at Le Castellet came in 1990, with Alain Prost giving the Maranello team its one hundredth Formula 1 victory. The French Grand Prix had been absent from the calendar since 2008, when it returned at Le Castellet last year.

At Magny-Cours. From 1991, the race moved from the south coast to the very centre of the country, at Magny-Cours. Scuderia Ferrari had a great track record here starting in 1997: Michael Schumacher took six wins in ten years (1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2006). The team also won the following two years, in 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen and in 2008 with Felipe Massa.

Timetable. The cars will take to the Paul Ricard circuit for the first time on Friday at 11 o’clock for the first free practice session, with the second one scheduled for 3pm. The final hour of preparation comes on Saturday at noon, while qualifying gets underway at 3pm. The French Grand Prix starts at 3.10om on Sunday 23 June.

FERRARI STATS
GP participations 977
Seasons in F1 70
Debut Monaco 1950 (Alberto Ascari 2°; Raymond Sommer 4°; Luigi Villoresi rit.)
Wins 235 (24,05%)
Pole positions 221 (22,62%)
Fastest laps 250 (25,58%)
Total podiums 754 (77,48%)

FERRARI STATS FRENCH GP
GP partications 49
Debut 1950 (Peter Whitehead 3rd)
Wins 17 (29,31%)
Pole positions 17 (29,31%)
Fastest laps 14 (24,13%)
Total podiums 49 (84,48%)

Charles Leclerc #16
“France – it’s a pretty new track to me, strangely, as it is very close to my home. I have some great memories from last year’s event which was the first time that I was there. It was also the first time that I made it to Q3 in Formula 1, which is something that I will never forget.
The track is quite atypical, with huge run-off areas. You can really push the limits in free practice without taking actual risks because the walls are quite far away. I really enjoy driving at Le Castellet and look forward to being back there.”

Sebastian Vettel #5
“Last year’s French Grand Prix was our first at the Circuit Paul Ricard for many years, so returning this year we have more data to work with. The circuit has long straights and low-speed corners, although there is a wider range of corner speeds there. Most of the corners have been resurfaced since last year.
We have a one step harder tyre selection than in Montreal and it is likely to be another one-stop race. The weather can be unpredictable here and is often very hot and windy.
Last year our race was compromised by the first lap incident but I think our car can have the pace to do quite well there.”

Mattia Binotto Team Principal
“Following Canada we definitely want to get back on track and go racing with our rivals once again. In France we will have a few small evolutions, elements that represent for us a useful step in defining the direction we will take in developing the car.
What we will be bringing won’t be the solution to our problems, but the technical feedback we get from these evolutions will be important for the next steps we take.
Paul Ricard has been a tricky circuit for us last year and we know that this kind of track isn’t particularly favourable for our package, but nothing is impossible so we will be ready to do our best.”

 

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