French Grand Prix preview

Last year's race, won through expert strategy and driving, humbled the big-hitters. The German made Jordan's breakthrough in 1999 at the French track, but is there a chance he could do the same this year? Jordan has recently received a boost to their engines with developments by supplier Mugen, and will be on a high following the announcement of a works deal with Honda from next year.

Granted, the team has not performed to expectations, but Magny-Cours could provide the turning point as it did last year. The car has shown its promise, at Monte Carlo for example, where Jarno Trulli was on the front row. If all the elements can come together, and mix with a dash of luck as they did last year, there is no reason why a repeat of Frentzen's win should be entirely ruled out.

Last year, Jordan scored their second win after the title hopefuls fell foul of the unusual circumstances. The track's extremely smooth tarmac has a tendency to become gripless as soon as a sprinkling of rain falls, and a number of recent races have been shaken up to a considerable degree by a shower at certain points during the event.

"Over the past few seasons I have only good memories of my time racing at Magny-Cours," said Frentzen. "Last year in a race that was really up and down I was able to gain my first win for the Benson and Hedges Jordan team. I would like to be on the podium again and I feel we are in a good position to make that happen."

Frentzen used the wet/dry conditions to superb effect, avoiding the need to stop for fuel in the closing stages of the race. This problem beset both Mika Hakkinen and Rubens Barrichello, while the German combined speed, fuel economy and dazzling wet weather confidence to take the chequered flag.

"We go to Magny-Cours with a good set up and know the general strategy that needs to be put in place for the weekend," says Jordan technical director Mike Gascoyne, before admitting that testing can only prepare you so much as conditions can differ significantly".

Driver Jarno Trulli agreed, saying "I think we have a car that will be up at the front of the grid although I don't think we will be as strong as in Monaco or Canada".


In Canada, Schumacher was left to run away and hide after David Coulthard was issued with a penalty. If the Scot was to challenge Schumacher he would have had to attempt a pass, and that is something which some find difficult at Magny Cours.

There is one overtaking possibility at the hairpin. This came into its own as a passing place in last year's event, when cars that lacked traction in the slippery conditions were barely capable of holding off those with more confidence to brake deeper into the turn.

Champion Mika Hakkinen knows this well, from his battle with Barrichello and others at the circuit last year. "Magny-Cours has a mix of low-speed hairpins, medium speed corners and fast chicanes and there are good overtaking opportunities particularly into the Adelaide hairpin," he says.

McLaren are not writing off their chances just yet, and second-placed man David Coulthard points to his recent testing performance at the track.

"We tested at Magny-Cours after the Canadian Grand Prix and went through a lot of work. I ended up fastest on both my days in the car so things are looking promising for the race," he said.


Championship leader Michael Schumacher concurs with Hakkinen on the nature of the track, and believes that Ferrari will once again be in good shape to take the victory: "It is a track with a bit of everything, so the car has to be good in all areas to be quick."

"Our car has worked well on all kinds of circuits this year, so I expect it to be very competitive in the race. We tested at Magny-Cours last week and I am very confident that we will go well for the race next weekend."

Rubens Barrichello starred at last year's event, despite driving a Stewart with a tendency to aquaplane.

"Rain always makes the race more difficult, but it can also make it more exciting and change completely the outcome of the race depending on the pit stop strategy," he explains.

"It's a very smooth surface and it became very slippery when the water built up."


Though most predictions of an unpredictable French GP centre around the possibility of rain, a dry race could throw up as many headaches for the teams as a thunderstorm, with the usual issues over tyre choice and fuel stop strategy. Bridgestone Motorsport's technical manager Yoshihiko Ichikawa sheds some light on these potential pitfalls:

"Some drivers have experienced understeer when running with Extra Soft tyres at other Grands Prix but we'd recommend the softer compound this time - it has more traction and rear grip, and the understeer is less pronounced at Magny-Cours," he claims.

"The Extra Soft would be a very good choice. However, the softer rubber will still degrade at a higher rate, especially at the rear, and cars will start to lose traction after a certain number of laps. This could make the race really interesting!"