WilliamsF1 French GP Facts and Figures

By Andrew Hooper
July 12 2002

 

 

  
French GP: Facts & Figures
 
* WilliamsF1 has won four of the eleven Grands Prix held in Magny-Cours since 1991 and also secured six pole positions on the circuit, the latest in 2001.

* Last year the BMW WilliamsF1 Team celebrated the first pole position of their partnership in Magny-Cours. Ralf Schumacher claimed pole on his birthday when he set a qualifying time of 1m12.989s

* The 2002 race will be the 52nd French Grand Prix. The French Grand Prix has had seven homes since the first race in 1950 - the other venues being Reims, Rouen, Clermont-Fèrrand, Le Mans, Le Castellet and Dijon-Prenois. The only country to have held more races at different venues is the USA with a total of nine

* There is a high probability of hot summer conditions at Magny-Cours which are demanding for the car's cooling systems. In 2000,the average temperatures during the race were 30°C (air) and 35°C (track). Last year 28°C air temperatures and 46°C track temperatures were noted as average during Sunday's race. The circuit is 2.642 miles (4.251 km) long and the 72 lap race will be held over 190.109 miles (305.886 km)

* The lap record was set in 2001 by David Coulthard in a McLaren-Mercedes with a time of 1m16.088s (201.130 km/h)

* Ferrari's Michael Schumacher won last year's race ahead of his brother, Ralf. Juan Pablo Montoya did not finish the 2001 French Grand Prix

* The race will start at 14.00 local time (12.00 UTC) on Sunday, 21st July.

* The historical pit stop windows for a two-stop-strategy are between laps 22 and 27 for the first stop and between laps 44 and 50 for the second stop. Tyre degradation is classified medium for Magny-Cours.

* There are just four days between the chequered flag on Sunday in France and the first day of practice for the German Grand Prix. The cars will be stripped down and the engines and gearboxes will be changed in the garages in France. The mechanics will load the cars on Monday morning into the trucks for the journey to Hockenheim.

There is no time for the cars to be sent back to the WilliamsF1 factory in Grove for the usual strip down, and any parts needed will have to be sent directly to the German track where the mechanics will start working on the cars on Wednesday. This schedule will reduce the usual time they have for Grand Prix preparation from an average of six to about two days.

 
 
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