France: Magny Cours Track Guide

By Phil Huff
June 19 2008

The Circuit de Nevers is located in Burgundy, the geographic heartland of France, and has been home to the French Grand Prix since 1991. The twelve-turn circuit is blessed with a smooth surface and boasts generous run-off areas, although its twisty layout means that overtaking possibilities are usually limited to the slow Adelaide hairpin.

The race organisers tried to answer that criticism in 2004 by replacing the final chicane and increasing the run off area at the final Lycee turn, but the alterations have met with limited success.

Lap times vary noticeably at Magny-Cours depending on the ambient temperature. In common with other tight circuits, Formula One cars are set up to race with high levels of downforce, without completely compromising straight-line speed. Traction, particularly this year without traction control, has a big influence on lap time because the cars accelerate out of five first and second-gear corners around the lap. The two high-speed chicanes are much spoken about and keep the attention of the drivers, but neither is a big technical challenge because the relatively high downforce levels used on the cars ensure good turn-in and stability through these sections.

Around 69% of the lap is spent on full throttle, yet it's also one of the more economical circuits of the year, with the Honda RA107 sipping about 2.1kg of fuel each lap. Critical to strategies, the penalty for carrying fuel is high here, with each 10kg adding just over 0.4s to each lap. That penalty allowed Michael Schumacher to win here using a four stop strategy back in 2004.

Honda-powered drivers dominated the French Grand Prix for four years, Nigel Mansell taking victory in 1986/1987 and Alain Prost in 1988/1989. Honda has been on the podium in France a total of 11 times. Last years event was a mild success for the team, with Jenson Button scoring a single point after qualifying 12th on the grid. Team mate Rubens Barrichello started one place behind and rose to 11th by the end of the race.