The worldwide web did not exist. The demolition of the Berlin Wall began and Channel Tunnel workers from the United Kingdom and France shook hands for the first time 40 meters (131 feet) beneath the floor of the English Channel.
It was 1990, and it was the final year of the French Grand Prix at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Local hero Alain Prost won for Scuderia Ferrari to score his third win of the season in a battle for the championship with eventual title winner Ayrton Senna.
Also notable in the 1990 French Grand Prix was the performance of privateer Leyton House and its drivers Ivan Capelli and Mauricio Gugelmin, who ran first and second for much of the race, with Capelli leading a race-high 45 laps in one of the early cars penned by Red Bull design guru Adrian Newey.
Twenty-eight years have passed since the FIA Formula One World Championship last visited Le Castellet, France, home to Circuit Paul Ricard.
But come Sunday, the French Grand Prix returns to a revamped 5.842-kilometer (3.63-mile), 15-turn layout in the heart of the Bandol vineyards.
The circuit has evolved to become one of the most technically advanced in the world. In fact, it is the first entity to be designated as a “Centre of Excellence” by the FIA.
Statistics for Sunday’s French Formula One Grand Prix at Le Castellet:
- Lap distance: 5.842km. Total distance:309.626 km (53 laps)
- No race at the circuit since 1990.
- Start time: 1410 GMT (1610 local)
Race Victories
- Canada was championship leader Sebastian Vettel’s third win in seven races this season for Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo have two wins apiece.
- Hamilton has 64 victories from 215 races and is second in the all-time list behind seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher (91). Vettel has 50, Ricciardo seven.
- Ferrari have won 232 races since 1950, McLaren 182, Williams 114, Mercedes 78 and Red Bull 57. Former champions McLaren and Williams have not won since 2012.
Pole Position
- Hamilton has a record 74 career poles, Vettel 54.
- Max Verstappen, at 20-years-old, can still become the youngest ever pole-sitter this season. The current youngest is Vettel, who did it at the age of 21 years and 72 days.
Podium
- Hamilton has 122 career podiums and is second on the all-time list behind Schumacher (155). Vettel has 103, Kimi Raikkonen 94.
- Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas has had four second-place finishes in seven races.
Championship Points
- Vettel leads Hamilton by a single point.
- Hamilton is on a record run of 32 successive scoring finishes, going back to Malaysia 2016 when he last drew a blank.
- Mercedes are 17 points ahead of Ferrari in the constructors’ championship.
- Russian rookie Sergey Sirotkin (Williams) is the only driver on the starting grid yet to score a point in his career.
- Haas’s Romain Grosjean has yet to open his account for 2018 and including last season the Frenchman has not scored for 11 races in a row.
French Grand Prix
- Sunday’s race will be the first French Grand Prix since 2008, when it was at Magny-Cours. That race was won by Ferrari’s now-retired Brazilian Felipe Massa.
- Ferrari have won the three most recent French Grands Prix — with Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 and Michael Schumacher in 2006 — and six of the last eight.
- Apart from Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso is the only current driver to have won in France (in 2005).
- Le Castellet last hosted an F1 grand prix in 1990, with Frenchman Alain Prost handing Ferrari their 100th win.
- There will be three French drivers in the race - Romain Grosjean (Haas), Esteban Ocon (Force India) and Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) — and three teams using French engines: Renault, McLaren and Red Bull.
Milestones
- If Hamilton wins, he will set a record for the most victories in different grands prix. He currently shares the record of 22 with retired seven times world champion Michael Schumacher.
- He already holds the record of winning at 25 different circuits.
- Sunday’s race is the first in an unprecedented triple-header — three races over three successive weekends (France, Austria, Britain), so scheduled to avoid a clash with the World Cup final in Russia.
- McLaren’s Fernando Alonso is celebrating victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours race last weekend, making him only the fifth F1 champion to achieve that feat.
- Montreal was Vettel’s 50th Formula One win.
The Essentials
- Toughest corner Turn 10, Signes. Arguably the most famous corner on the lap, this 85-degree right-hander is taken flat-out in eighth gear and requires 100 per cent commitment from the drivers. With an apex speed of 300km/h (186mph), it’s one of the fastest corners on the Formula 1 calendar.
- Focus points Paul Ricard has recently been re-surfaced and the new asphalt is similar to Silverstone and the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where rear tyre temperatures were a concern during winter testing. To combat blistering, Pirelli has introduced a thinner tread on the tyres used at these tracks, the new-spec tyres being 1kg lighter than a conventional set.
- Biggest challenge Aero balance. There are several long corners in the second half of the lap, notably Turns 11 and 12, through which a good aero balance is important. Ideally, the driver wants a benign car that’s easy to balance at high speed, while braking or accelerating and turning.
Engineer's Lowdown
- Braking Easy. Two weeks after the Canadian Grand Prix, which was one of the hardest tracks of the year on brakes, F1 goes to one of the least demanding tracks for braking. Paul Ricard has only four significant braking areas and there are three long straights along which to cool the brake systems.
- Power The cars use 1.8kg of fuel per lap, which is just above average. The team expects no fuel consumption issues during the race.
- Aero Medium downforce. The combination of three long straights and some medium-to-high speed corners forces the teams to reduce downforce levels. Not as low as Spa-Francorchamps or Monza, but it’s not a maximum downforce track.
Additional information by Haas and McLaren F1 Media
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