French lesson from Barrichello and Button

Magny-Cours has been home to the French Grand Prix since 1991 and the 12-turn circuit is blessed with a smooth surface and boasts generous run-off areas, although its twisty layout means that overtaking possibilities are usually limited to the slow Adelaide hairpin. The race organisers tried to answer that criticism in 2004 by replacing the final chicane and increasing the run off area at the final Lycee turn, but the alterations have met with limited success.

Despite this, it’s a race both Honda Racing F1 Team drivers enjoy. "It’s quite a tricky circuit to get your lap absolutely right, however it is a lot of fun to drive and very fast,” enthuses Jenson Button who spent last weekend entertaining his home fans at the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed. “The start is particularly important, regardless of what side of the grid you are on, and you have to position yourself well for the first two corners to get a good run down the straight to the Adelaide hairpin. This is really the only place on the circuit where you can have a real chance of overtaking.

“The key to a really quick lap around here is getting the front end of the car working well, particularly for turns one and two. You can lose a lot of time at turn two if you have too much understeer in the car. You also need to have good car stability to make the most of the high speed chicanes.”

“I really enjoy racing at Magny-Cours,” agrees Rubens Barrichello. “It is a really flowing circuit which the drivers generally enjoy. The track has a mixture of high and slow speed turns, and although the track surface is smooth, it can be hard on the rear tyres. The high speed changes of direction between turns four and five, and also turns seven and eight, are particularly challenging.”