The IndyCar feature that Paul Ricard desperately needs in F1

Let’s face it: Paul Ricard is not a particularly good Formula 1 circuit – at least, for modern cars. The finicky nature of the opening sector often relegates the field of drivers into operating in a single file, and although the Signes and Le Beausset corners towards the end of the lap are challenging long-radius corners that reward bravery on the throttle, they also offer a different problem. The much-maligned ‘dirty air’ produced by modern racing cars often forces the car behind to wash out and lose grip, and drivers can only attempt to mount overtakes at both with a significant tyre advantage.

That, and the plethora of abrasive strips lining the circuit’s perimeter are headache-inducing. Ultimately, they’re a legacy of the circuit’s days as a “high-tech test track” - providing a huge safety net for drivers suffering a slight lapse in concentration as they pound around the circuit for hours at a time. Those strips will peel some of the tyres’ best days away from them but, given the run-off apparently extends into the horizon, do so in return for keeping the car out of the wall.

To be fair to the oft-criticised venue, last weekend’s race wasn’t as bad as expected – thanks to the unexpected levels of tyre degradation cracking open a space for teams to improvise with differing strategies, especially in an encounter predicted to be a straightforward one-stop event.

Regardless, it seems that Paul Ricard is here to stay on the F1 calendar for the time being. The allure of having a race in France, motorsport’s spiritual birthplace, can yield plenty of financial returns for Formula 1 and the circuit’s local economy. Le Castellet’s proximity to the Cote d’Azur makes it a destination venue for moneyed travellers seeking a high-octane spectacle to counterbalance a relaxing visit to the French Riviera to indulge in rosé and seafood. Magny-Cours certainly didn’t have that going for it.

Perhaps it’s time for Paul Ricard, the circuit named in deference to the pastis industrialist who spawned the idea of the circuit, to shake off its reputation as a sprawling test venue and level up to a top-grade F1 circuit. To earn its stripes as something of a destination circuit, and lose its current reputation as ‘just another track limits extravaganza’, it must shed the stripes it already has.

Let’s compare and contrast with Sunday’s IndyCar race across the pond. Taking place at Road America, one of the classic US road courses situated about 18 miles away from Lake Michigan, the race was chock-full of excitement, wild overtakes and a plethora of caution periods that bunched the pack up.

Bordered by grass and gravel, the back section of the circuit is also nestled within a small forest. Run-off is used sparingly – and given IndyCar’s considerably more lax nature to track limits, the paved parts of the circuit at Turn 1 and Turn 5 were all employed in overtakes.

Kevin Magnussen, Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Honda

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

In particular, IndyCar convert Romain Grosjean put in a number of deft moves – and his move around the outside of fellow ex-F1 driver Alexander Rossi at Turn 1 underlined his racing chops when unshackled by the trackside bureaucracy of F1.

On the flipside, Grosjean’s former Haas team-mate Kevin Magnussen felt the brunt of the increased jeopardy introduced by grass and gravel early on in the race. A substitute for Felix Rosenqvist, who was ruled out of the race following his hefty Detroit crash, Magnussen was caught out by the Turn 13 kink and was forced to skip over the grass before rejoining, losing a place to Takuma Sato to compound his momentary misery.

Admittedly, IndyCar does perhaps swing too far in the other direction compared to F1, as the notion of track limits are anathema to the no-holds-barred style of racing in the premier US-based single-seater series. Its visits to the Circuit of the Americas usually disregard Turn 19’s exit kerb and cars tend to load the run-off with tyre rubber, although today’s extremities of IndyCar track exploration are not as flagrant as Alex Zanardi launching “The Pass” on Bryan Herta at Laguna Seca’s Corkscrew in 1996. But that’s usually down to the cast of circuits eschewing acres of tarmac around the course - give drivers an inch, after all, and they’ll take a mile.

It’s rare that IndyCar plays host to drab encounters, and although the single-spec nature of the chassis does a lot to help cars follow, the cars are not impervious to creating turbulent air. But the challenging nature of the circuits are a great leveller too and possess significantly more character than F1’s cast of glorified carparks that have punctuated the calendar in recent years.

As F1 moves into a significantly more IndyCar-like aerodynamic formula for 2022, the reduced reliance on over-body aero parts – and increased reliance on the Venturi-fied undertray – should help to make the cars less sensitive in the wake of others, and also give the drivers a challenge with reduced downforce levels. That said, the effect will be diluted if the circuits continue to offer little in the way of punishment – and the onus must be on the FIA to find a way to introduce more bite into each venue, as long as it’s not at the expense of safety.

The final part of the Paul Ricard lap is a real 'rhythm' sector – and getting out of sync in the last part of the lap will cost time. But that’s the only cost – it should reward concentration and getting every step right ahead of the final corner

If there’s anything good to come out of the global pandemic, the return of some of F1’s classic circuits must be one of them. The reintroduction of Imola has produced good races at a circuit that, although difficult to pass on, challenges drivers and pens them in (for the most part) with grass. The run-off at Piratella would be fine if F1 was to operate on the IndyCar wavelength of track limits laxness, but instead blots Imola’s copybook as any white-line transgressions are annoyingly chalked off. Of course, the official line is “if you want to keep your lap, don’t go on the run-off", but there must be more of a disincentive than the frustration of trackside red tape.

The addition of Mugello was particularly fun last year too, offering a surprise throwback experience amid a hastily cobbled-together calendar. It punished mistakes, rewarded brave moves into Turn 1, and the drivers had a jolly old time learning a circuit that most had not driven in anger.

Alex Albon, Red Bull Racing RB16, battles with Daniel Ricciardo, Renault F1 Team R.S.20

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Paul Ricard could be quite good if it offered the same challenge as those circuits. The final part of the lap, for the driver, is a real 'rhythm' sector – and getting out of sync in the last part of the lap will cost time. But that’s the only cost – it should reward concentration and getting every step right ahead of the final corner. If the local gardeners could lay down some turf and nestle in some gravel traps atop the red trackside stripes, the peril for each driver will be greatly enhanced.

The circuit’s fellow concrete expanse at Yas Marina is finally set to change. After a decade-plus of delivering anti-climactic season finales, the circuit will receive some modifications to cut out the low-speed dross that inevitably kills any spark of a close wheel-to-wheel battle.

It’s not expected that this will include additional perils such as gravel, but the move to improve the circuit does show that some circuit owners are willing to (eventually) play with the formula to deliver more consistently exciting racing. Sure, it helps that the circuit is bankrolled by a nation swimming in oil reserves, but the journey of self-improvement is admirable.

IndyCar’s next stop is at Mid-Ohio - an undulating circuit that, like Road America, punishes mistakes but rewards any controlled risks. Formula 1, meanwhile, has its double-header at the Red Bull Ring to contend with – a circuit that just about treads the line with run-off areas, but the increase in paved areas has caused the ambiguity of track limits to rear its head.

Although both should deliver good races, one of them will leave a long list of deleted lap times in its wake. Who wants to guess which one?

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35

Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images