Esteban Ocon reckons Le Mans is the most realistic choice of the “multiple options” Formula 1 has available to keep the French Grand Prix on the calendar.
This weekend’s French GP will be the fourth since the Paul Ricard circuit rejoined the calendar in 2018 but a permanent deal looks unlikely beyond 2022.
France is not expected to feature on the 2023 calendar and it has been suggested that the country’s best chance of returning in the future is as a rotating option alongside Belgium.
Last year Paul Ricard hosted the best of its three races in this era of F1 but it has never universally won over the drivers or been a popular addition among fans.
France’s previous venue was Magny-Cours, which last hosted F1 in 2008 (pictured above), but in terms of a replacement for Paul Ricard only a new street race in Nice has been mooted in public by F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.
Ocon, the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix winner, believes Le Mans is the best choice.
“Stefano talked about Nice, which I think would definitely be a great place to have a street circuit,” said Ocon.
“But we also have Le Mans which is a great venue, of course. The track needs maybe a bit of work for track limits and all these things.
“A proper Le Mans race with Formula 1, just as a show, would be quite impressive.”
He added: “I think we have multiple options for sure. A street circuit that could work or a nice circuit that could work as well. We have some good tracks – of course, Magny-Cours is a bit hard to get to.
“But the more realistic one that I thought about is definitely Le Mans.
“And Le Mans as the French Grand Prix, with quite some history, I think would be quite awesome.”
The most plausible way for Le Mans to host F1 again would presumably be on the 2.6-mile Bugatti layout, which hosted the French GP in 1967 and is used by MotoGP.
Though the full 8.5-mile track used for the famous 24-hour race is a more appealing option it is usually considered extremely unsuitable on length grounds alone (a standard length F1 GP there would be just 22 laps) and is not currently at the required FIA safety grade for F1 either. Alpine ran an F1 car there during the 2021 24 Hours weekend as part of a special parade.
On whether Domenicali has mentioned Le Mans to him, Ocon replied: “That’s what I saw from Stefano in the press. I had a chat with him, but I will keep to myself.”
Ocon reckons there are several candidates to save the race.
And he believes the Nice project is a serious option, not just a bargaining tool used by F1 in its negotiations with Monaco over that race’s future.
“If that’s been mentioned, it means that the people organising from here, they also have control over Nice,” Ocon said.
“I don’t believe it’s just to say ‘thank you French Grand Prix and see you later’. I don’t believe that’s the case.
“If it’s been mentioned, it means that there’s been some discussions and people think it could be possible.”
The prospect of France falling off the calendar comes despite Ocon and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly becoming French F1 race winners in the last two season.
Ocon said a rotation would be an acceptable compromise and has promised to engage in any conversations that can help secure the future of the race.
He believes that France’s heritage and interest in motorsport and cars in general means it has a place in Formula 1 as a host venue as the championship continues to expand to new territories.
“Alternative one year maybe going to France, one year going to Belgium, that would be probably the best solution,” Ocon said.
“We can’t just discount all the classic tracks. Alternating or finding a solution is definitely key.”
When asked about the prospect of the French GP dropping off the calendar, four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel said ex-French GP venue Magny-Cours was better to drive and he’d like to see F1 adopt “some older” French track like Dijon or Le Mans.
