A lap of Magny-Cours with Hamilton

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes' rising star, Lewis Hamilton, takes us for a lap at the Magny-Cours Circuit, the venue of the upcoming French Grand Prix. Normally this season's race will be the final GP held at the track.

Lewis Hamilton “Magny-Cours is a cool circuit, with generally nice weather, and very good overtaking opportunities as a result of the long straights, where you are able to slipstream. Especially coming into Adelaide (Turn Five) you are really able to out-brake people and gain a few places. The most exciting part of the track is Estoril (Turn Two and Three); it is an extremely fast combination of corners and there is hardly any run-off area and if you make the slightest mistake it is really hard to come back from, because if you get on the marbles, you are off. Accuracy is key at this point and making sure you carry a lot of speed into the first apex, make the car come out a little bit and back in for the second apex, making sure the exit up the straight is clean.

We then turn into Adelaide, which is a very tight first gear corner. You are able to overtake here but it is basically all about who is the bravest and who can brake latest. This is followed by the fast chicane that is Nürburgring, which is again pretty cool to drive. On the exit you have no run-off, well you have tarmac but this is accompanied by this sort of patchy grass which you can not use. As soon as you touch this it sends you off wide and you lose your lap time.

Turns 11 and 12 and very fast and when you come into them it is very difficult. As you come up the hill before Turn 11 you can't see the corner, so you have to guess when you are turning in, sometimes you get it right and sometimes you don't. Finding a reference point to brake and where to turn is very important along with how much speed you run, as all of a sudden the kerb appears and you can find you have turned in too early and then you hit the kerb. Coming out of the corner though the exit is very easy, leading into the long straight down into the second from last corner. This is a new part of the circuit which is again a good opportunity for overtaking, as you are able to slipstream and brake quite late. Finally we have the really tight chicane, which is not one of my favourites. You can't overtake; you can't follow; you just have to use the big kerbs and hope that your car doesn't break over them.”