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Ferrari faces an uphill task this weekend. Not only is the team going up against last year's title contender Red Bull or the ridiculous heat wave that has engulfed parts of Europe, but it's also going up against a curse that dates back to the infamous failed championship campaign of Alain Prost in 1990. The last time Ferrari won a race at Circuit Paul Ricard was in 1990, 32 years ago!
F1 has since left Circuit Paul Ricard and returned in 2018. Despite multiple attempts, the team from Maranello has been unable to triumph at this circuit. Moreover, the track has not been a happy hunting ground for the team and has seen it encounter freak issues whenever there is a race at this circuit.
2018 F1 French GP (Ferrari gets outpaced by Mercedes)
Circuit Paul Ricard made its return to the sport in the 2018 F1 season. Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel came to the circuit on a high after ensuring a spectacular win in the 2018 F1 Canadian GP. Neither the track layout nor the tires, however, worked for them as well as they did for Mercedes.
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As it turns out, Mercedes locked the front row of the grid while Sebastian Vettel could only put together a time good enough for P3. Things turned for the worse in the race as Vettel's contact with Valtteri Bottas put him of contention for the race win.
The German would climb his way back through the field but the race was already compromised. As a result, he could only finish P5 and suffered a massive blow to his championship hopes.
2019 F1 French GP (Mercedes dominates, podium for Leclerc)
The 2019 edition of the race saw Ferrari come off the back of a rather shocking turn of events in the previous race. Sebastian Vettel was given a controversial 5-second penalty in the race which effectively handed the win to Lewis Hamilton.
There was a huge uproar in the way the whole chain of events were handled but ultimately the F1 circus moved on to the next race at Circuit Paul Ricard. For Ferrari, the wounds were still fresh and the team was aiming for redemption after a win was stolen from them in the previous race.
As it turns out, the track layout of Circuit Paul Ricard did not suit the car at all. Mercedes was the runaway favorite as soon as they completed the first lap around the track. In the end, it was a disappointing P3 and P5 for Ferrari as the team could not achieve the much-needed redemption it was looking for.
2021 F1 French GP (A pointless weekend for Ferrari)
The COVID-19 pandemic forced the sport to drop Circuit Paul Ricard from the 2020 calendar and hence, the F1 circus returned to the track a year later in 2021. Ferrari was still recovering from a rather underwhelming 2020 F1 season where a last-minute power unit regulation change had compromised the team.
The 2021 F1 season was still a step up and the team came to the French GP on the back of two consecutive pole positions scored by Charles Leclerc in Baku and Monaco. The race at Circuit Paul Ricard, however, was a massive letdown for the team. Even though qualifying went to plan and both the drivers secured impressive grid positions for the race (5th and 7th), the race was an utter disaster.
The cars suffered from horrendous tire degradation issues and just kept getting overtaken by one car after the other. The situation was so bad that by the time the checkered flag fell, the two drivers ended their races in P11 and P16. After the highs of Monaco and Baku, this was a massive letdown.
What happens to Ferrari this time around?
It will be interesting to see what is in store for Ferrari this year. Circuit Paul Ricard is a track where a lot of emphasis is put on race pace because overtaking is not a huge issue here. If you have strong race pace and have qualified in the front two rows, you should be able to challenge for the win (just like Charles Leclerc did in Austria).
To add to this, the extremely high temperatures at Circuit Paul Ricard are a clear indication that tire management is going to be key for the weekend. If we look at the form, it's hard to choose. Red Bull has had a strong race car predominantly throughout the season but the 2022 F1 Austrian GP showed that they can get caught out as well.
Can the Prancing Horse beat the curse this weekend? It will be worth finding out.
