Lewis Hamilton's dream result in France this weekend would be to celebrate his 300th Formula One race by ending the longest win drought of his record-breaking career, and it is not an impossible one.
Lewis Hamilton Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The seven-times world champion was once dominant at Le Castellet's Circuit Paul Ricard but new rules have left his Mercedes team struggling with a bouncing car behind pace-setters Red Bull and Ferrari.
It has now been 12 races since the Briton last won but he showed at Silverstone this month, when he finished third after leading, that the gap had narrowed.
"I truly believe we can get a race win this year," said the 37-year-old after the latest race in Austria, where he also finished third.
"Paul Ricard should be OK," said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, whose team have some upgrades for the weekend and look competitive.
"It's a smooth circuit, a little bit like Silverstone, fast corners, and on paper at least it looks like we can have a good performance there."
Hamilton is the only driver to have won in every season he has competed, and a 104th career victory would continue that run although he will also have to beat team mate George Russell.
Red Bull and Ferrari, winners of every race this season, will again fancy their chances on a scorching weekend -- with forecast temperatures of around 40 Celsius -- at a track on a plateau with the Mediterranean in the distance.
Max Verstappen won from pole in June last year, after passing Hamilton on the penultimate lap of a race decided by strategy and tyre wear.
Like Red Bull then, Ferrari are chasing their third win in a row after Carlos Sainz's Silverstone victory and Charles Leclerc's success in Austria.
The last time Ferrari completed such a hat-trick was in Singapore in 2019, a win that turned out to be the Italian team's last until this season.
Verstappen is 38 points clear of Leclerc after 11 of 22 races.
"We have closed the gap we had in terms of speed. I think they still have got a slight advantage, but very little or negligible," Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto said of the battle with Red Bull.
Sainz could have an engine penalty, however, after retiring in Austria with his car in flames.
Lewis Hamilton at the 2021 French Grand Prix Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Dutch driver Nyck de Vries, the reigning Formula E champion, will take Hamilton's place in first Friday practice as part of a new requirement for every team to run a driver with limited F1 experience in two such sessions this season.
Drivers exceeding the track limits could again be an issue, after 43 violations were recorded in Austria, with Le Castellet's wide run-offs.
"I think Ricard will be a bigger issue in that there is a genuine time gain to be had. And obviously, you've got acres of Tarmac there, so it's just inviting you to run off line," said Red Bull boss Christian Horner.
Organisers are expecting a total crowd of 200,000 over the course of the weekend.
Formula One statistics for the French Grand Prix at Le Castellet, round 12 of the 22-race season.
Lap distance: 5.842km. Total distance: 309.626km (53 laps)
2021 pole position: Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull
2021 race winner: Verstappen
Lap record: Sebastian Vettel (Germany) one minute 32.740 seconds (Ferrari, 2019)
Start time: 1300GMT (1500 local)
FRANCE
The race marks the start of the second half of the championship and is followed by Hungary next week, the last grand prix before the August break.
It will be the 62nd French Grand Prix in world championship history and 18th at Le Castellet's Circuit Paul Ricard, which first hosted a grand prix in 1971.
Seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton (2018, 2019), Fernando Alonso (2005) and Verstappen (2021) are the only current drivers to have won in France, which was off the calendar for a decade until 2018.
Hamilton won from pole position in 2018 and 2019 and Verstappen from pole in 2021. There was no race in 2020 due to the pandemic.
France has two current drivers - Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) -- but Ferrari's Monegasque Charles Leclerc is the most local.
The circuit has the high-speed Mistral straight, and fast Signes corner at the end of it, as well as low and medium speed corners making for some tricky setup choices.
RACE WINS
Red Bull have won seven of 11 races this season and Ferrari the other four. Verstappen has won six, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc three and Red Bull's Sergio Perez and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz one each.
Hamilton has a record 103 wins from 299 starts. He last won a race in Saudi Arabia last December.
Ferrari have won 242 races since 1950, McLaren 183, Mercedes 124, Williams 115 and Red Bull 82.
Ferrari are chasing their third win in a row. The last time they did that was in 2019 (Belgium, Italy, Singapore).
POLE POSITION
Leclerc has had six poles this year, Verstappen three, Perez and Sainz once each.
Hamilton has a record 103 career poles, most recently in Saudi Arabia last year.
FASTEST LAP
Six drivers have taken fastest laps this season.
Leclerc took the bonus point in the first three races, Verstappen in Imola, Miami and Austria, Perez in Spain and Azerbaijan, McLaren's Lando Norris in Monaco, Ferrari's Carlos Sainz in Canada and Hamilton in Britain.
POINTS
Verstappen leads Leclerc by 38 points. Red Bull lead Ferrari by 56 points in the constructors' standings.
Williams' Nicholas Latifi is the only regular race driver yet to score this season.
Mercedes are the only team to have scored on every weekend so far this season and Hamilton the only driver to have reached the chequered flag at every race.
MILESTONE
Hamilton is entering his 300th Formula One race. The Briton has gone 12 without a win, the longest drought of his F1 career.
-Reuters
