The French invented motor racing, and therefore the French Grand Prix has the longest history of all the races on the calendar.

The first event took place in 1906 at Le Mans and the race has had many homes in the intervening years – including a grand total of seven different venues since the beginning of the world championship in 1950.

The 1979 French Grand Prix at Dijon produced one of greatest battles in Formula 1 history, as Gilles Villleneuve and Rene Arnoux fought for second place.

The pair banged wheels and raced side-by-side almost continuously for the best part of three laps, with Villeneuve prevailing.

The event had alternated between Dijon and Paul Ricard until the Mediterranean circuit took precedence in the mid-1980s.

Then French President Mitterrand backed a bid to redevelop the Magny-Cours track, which won the right to host the race from 1991.

The circuit has some challenging elements – the long and fast Estoril right-hander and the fifth-gear chicanes of Nurburgring and Imola – and it is billiard-table smooth.

But, all told, it is not the most popular venue among the drivers and rarely provides great racing.

The rain-affected 1999 race was a happy exception, as Heinz-Harald Frentzen won for Jordan after an epic and unpredictable event featuring an abundance of overtaking.

Michael Schumacher proved to be the master of Magny-Cours, winning a record eight races at the track and even clinching a title there in 2002.

Bernie Ecclestone is not a fan of Magny-Cours, and is pushing to switch the French GP to a proposed Paris street track - which would certainly be a far more glamorous location.

But with no easy alternative on the horizon at present, the Nevers circuit will host F1 again in 2008.

View Site Map