Formula 1 News: F1 'deserves' a French GP 'in Paris'

(GMM) A key official of the defunct French GP has poured cold water on suggestions the sport should return to the country with a race in Paris.

Flavio Briatore, the powerful advisor to Renault’s Formula 1 team Alpine, triggered headlines last week by suggesting a race in the French capital would be “magnificent”.

“Not at Le Castellet (Paul Ricard) and not at Magny-Cours either, where there is nothing,” said the Italian. “In Paris.

“Castellet was impossible for traffic. No, Formula 1 deserves a grand prix in Paris.”

The last French GP was held at Paul Ricard in 2022, and Christian Estrosi played a key role. He is also the mayor of Nice, and there were moves to set up a project for a grand prix in that French city.

However, Estrosi told Le Parisien newspaper that both Paris and Nice are ideas that do not “seem feasible or opportune”.

When asked what the other options are, he answered: “Le Mans, but the Bugatti circuit requires major work.

“Magny Cours is handicapped by its lack of accessibility and an insufficient hotel offering,” Estrosi added.

He says Paul Ricard, at Le Castellet about an hour’s drive from Marseille, is still the most logical French GP location.

“This is still the best opportunity today to host the French GP again,” said Estrosi.

February 20, 2025

(GMM) Formula 1 should return to France – with a race in the capital city of Paris. That’s the view of Alpine’s flamboyant and famous advisor Flavio Briatore, just days after FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem rued France’s absence from the calendar since 2022.

“It’s good to open up to new countries, but we mustn’t forget where the story began,” he had told Le Figaro.

When asked about that, Briatore fully agreed with the controversial FIA president, even though he doesn’t think F1 should simply return to Paul Ricard.

“Not at Le Castellet (Paul Ricard) and not at Magny Cours either, where there is nothing,” said the Italian. “In Paris.

“Castellet was impossible for traffic. No, Formula 1 deserves a grand prix in Paris,” Briatore added. “Not necessarily in the city center or under the Eiffel Tower, but Paris would be magnificent.

“There must be all the hotel capacity to accommodate everyone that F1 attracts – the sponsors, the people who work for Formula 1. Everyone wants a grand prix in France. Formula 1 is really missing from France.”

Last year, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said he “understands” that the French government wanted to focus on the Olympic Games rather than F1.

“Maybe after that, they will have a little more time for us to come back together on this issue,” he told L’Equipe mid-last year.