Renault hopes for home advantage

As a former Prost driver, Jarno Trulli has vast experience of Magny-Cours and he hoping to put this to good use at a track where minor fluctuations in the weather can have a massive impact on the set-up requirements of an F1 car.

"It feels like a bit of a home race for me, having spent a few seasons in another French team," said Trulli. "You need a car with good front end and rear stability under braking, plus lots of traction out of the slow corners. All those demands suit our car, so I think we should put in a strong performance."

Jenson Button was out of luck at his home race so is motivated to make up for his disappointment this weekend.

"The track has lots of characteristics similar to Silverstone and our ultimate pace there was good," he said. "It is obviously important for everyone to do well in France. It would be nice to pull out something special for Renault at their home race."

Renault has a fine history in its home race. Its first ever F1 win came at Dijon in 1979, and it took three straight French GP wins from 1981 to '83.