The French Grand Prix will be back on the Formula 1 calendar in 2018. The race, which will take place at Paul Ricard, will be confirmed at a press conference in Paris on Monday. The race will be supported by the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA) region, which is under the presidence of former racer Christian Estrosi (who I reported on in European F3 back in 1984), with additional funding coming from the city of Toulon and from the département of the Var. the goal of the event will be to drive economic growth in the region. The plan is for the race to be at the end of August 2018, on the date that is currently used by the Belgian GP. This has been chosen as it will mean that the race will fall at the end of the French summer holidays before the annual rentrée. Spa is expected to be moved to the end of July, taking over the date that has been used for the German GP in recent years.
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joeblogsf1 
So would France be a permanent replacement for Germany -as in annually were this to happen?
We will see. It’s a bit earlier for definitive answers…
Ok thanks Joe.
Wonder what the weather is like at Spa in July – hopefully just as much rain!
Much prefer Ricard to Magny Cours, so good news.
The current Paul Ricard circuit now a is very different to the one used in 1990 . Just to warn you. Magny Cours wasn’t a bad track- good in fact but the location was a problem.
I am aware of this
I was replying to Martin not to you Joe.
I assume it’ll be a nice short trip onwards to Monza?
Probably not…
Doesn’t seem right to get a well established race to change its date, but I guess we’ll see how this all plays out…
Hi Joe,
Really enjoyed reading your articles in 2016, especially the notebooks after each race, so thanks for doing this. Do you think Bernie will still be around running F1 this time next year? I know I might be in the minority but from the outside I very much admire Bernie (by the way I chuckled at Nico throwing him in the air before the podium!)
No idea
Excellent news Joe. Thanks so much for all the updates this week! Cheers.
Great glad it’s returning in 2018, sadly the last year F1 will be on free to air on Channel 4 before it goes behind the pay wall of Rupert Murdochs Sky F1 channel.
Will be interesting to see how packed circuits gets with spectators in Murdochs empire years.
Great glad it’s returning in 2018, sadly the last year F1 will be on free to air on Channel 4 before it goes behind the pay wall of Rupert Murdochs Sky F1 channel.
Will be interesting to see how packed circuits gets with spectators in Murdochs empire years. Perhaps there will be a need to give another channel some highlights show.
Would not want it to get into the trouble that A1 GP went through before it curled up and died.
This is great news as I can stay with a good friend who lives about an hour away from Castellet, in Collobrieres. A great area to have a race. I will bring the local roasted chestnuts to your audience, Joe!
I am rooting for Long Beach which is only 30 mins from me, and now I can hope for France.
Interesting info: Last time I was in the area of Paul Richard (3 years) I saw an outdoor radio-controlled model car racing venue. Wonder if it’s still there.
I hope it is not a conflict with the historic car events in Northern California (Pebble Beach Concours, Laguna Seca Historics etc) which may attract some of the same attendees…?
While inconsequential to F1, I wonder what SRO are thinking with regards to the Spa 24 Hours.
Hmmm traditionally it’s st the end of July isn’t it?
Could be a tricky date shuffle…
Brilliant that Ricard is going to be the French GP venue though. Do we dare dream that the F1 cars will be allowed to use the entire Mistral into Signes?!
No idea
The real reason is you complaining about the calendar so they gave you a home race LOL .
Will it be the first artificial wet race?
Good news if it happens, definitely good news. We need more European races, not less.
Joe, there’s been many rumours of whom owns Circuit Paul Ricard (Bernie, Slavica, Excelis). As far as you know, who currently does own Paul Ricard?
As you wrote a day or two ago, Joe, Hockenheim is due to hold the German GP in 2018. Has that suddenly changed, or is the date of the German race being moved? It’s good to see France back on the calendar but it would be bittersweet if it were to be at the expense of Germany.
I don’t know. Bernie Ecclestone makes the calendars and they are rarely done early!
No comfort to be drawn there! Perhaps he’ll go for a first before he reaches the end of his time and have two races on the same weekend – the teams could send one car to Spa and one to Hockenheim and race for half the points at each.
Great news ! have been there once , photographing a FIA GT race , excellent venue for doing this kind of work , and as a bonus , by far the most gorgeous grid girls I’ve ever seen on a race track .
My personal hope is that the new tyres allow for more intense actual racing, rather than the ” after you Claude ” type of backing off that the high degradation ones have imposed on the racing.
Other than that next year will be the last i watch it, as when it is behind the paywall i won’t be following it except on Joe’s blog and GP+.
I’ll stick to WRC and Historic racing from 2018 and SKY/Bernie/Mr Chase may well find that the audience shrinks, but Joe should benefit at least from some increased sales, and it’ll be a bit of a blast from the past waiting to hear the result on here!!
What’s your take on Mr Fillon Joe? Also, is he likely to win next year in this post-factual world?
Who knows? Voters do weird things these days
..but just the merest hint of a President Fillon, has resulted in a French GP and avoided a clash of dates with Le Mans. Voila!
That is wonderful news. Considering French history with the sport, it is absolutely galling that they haven’t had a grand prix for so long. Britain, Germany, France and Italy, are all races that are absolutely essential to the sport, yet frequently come under threat. That we’re losing the german grand prix, despite the country’s ongoing contribution to F1, is absolute madness. Something is clearly wrong if you can’t get packed grandstands from a nation with two racing world champions and a team who has dominated the sport for the past three years.
Great news! Does Bernie still own Paul Ricard circuit?
I believe it is at least in part, if not wholly, owned either by Slavica or by Bambino, neither of whom/which it has been claimed, nay insisted, Bernie has any influence over.
Good news – here’s hoping f1 returns to Scandinavia next!
Now that’s a good idea – what F1 really lacks is a snow race. It’s a wonder Bernie never thought of that one. It’d be a brilliant as it would be hilarious.
[OT]
Just seen Rosberg’s news, and I’m gobsmacked. What happens in the driver market now, Joe? (and could this create an opportunity for Alonso at Mercedes, in 2018 if not 2017?)
Looking at the races that will take place in 2018, it could be a 22 race calendar. Record books – get ready…
This is how I think the calendar could shape up:
11/03/18 – Australia
25/03/18 – Bahrain
01/04/18 – UAE
15/04/18 – Azerbaijan
22/04/18 – Russia
06/05/18 – Spain
20/05/18 – Monaco
03/06/18 – Mexico
10/06/18 – Canada
24/06/18 – Germany
01/07/18 – Britain
15/07/18 – Austria
22/07/18 – Hungary
18/08/18 – Belgium
26/08/18 – France
09/09/18 – Italy
30/09/18 – Singapore
07/10/18 – China
21/10/18 – Japan
28/10/18 – Malaysia
11/11/18 – USA
18/11/18 – Brazil
I know there are many unlikely changes on this calendar, but an earlier start and finish time will be better for the teams. If the final race had to be the last week of November, it allows for 1 (or maybe 2) additional 3 week breaks.