AU REVOIR TO MAGNY
COURS
This, we are told, is to be the last year Formula 1 visits
Magny-Cours perhaps even the last French Grand Prix for the
foreseeable future.
And while few in F1 will miss Nevers, the prospect of France losing
its place on the calendar should concern anyone with a feeling for
the sports history.
Much as we British may brag about hosting the inaugural world
championship round at Silverstone in 1950, the French have been
staging Grand Prix races since 1906, when a two-day marathon over
rough roads around Le Mans was won at an average speed of
63mph.
In the intervening century, the French GP has been a mainstay of
the international racing scene despite numerous changes of
venue.
It has produced some of F1s most noteworthy victories: Giancarlo
Baghetti winning on his GP debut in 1961 (a feat yet to be
matched); Porsches only F1 victory the following year; and the
first win for a turbocharged car in 1979, which revolutionised F1
engine technology.
And along with its fair share of processional races, it has also
delivered moments of high drama.
None more so than the 79 race at Dijon, where Gilles Villeneuve
and Rene Arnoux earned an eternal place in F1 folklore with a
display of uninhibited wheel-to-wheel combat which has never been
equalled for sheer intensity and excitement.
Of the seven F1 venues that France has furnished since the start of
the world championship, the public road courses of Reims, Rouen and
Clermont-Ferrand were among the sports most exhilarating
theatres.
Magny-Cours pales by comparison, a contrived modern layout of
chicanes and hairpins with no overall theme and little
character.
Its not exactly a bad circuit, but its hard to imagine it
kindling any great enthusiasm for F1 among those not already won
over by the sport.
That said, in the midst of all the tight complexes and constant
radii are three very keen bits of racetrack: the long Estoril
right-hander at the start of the lap, and the fast chicanes of
Nurburgring and Imola.
These three corners, both in person and through the slow-motion
mood shots in which TV directors delight, give a fine insight
into the racing drivers art and how well his car is
handling.
Which is just as well, for Magny-Cours is not renowned for serving
up spectacular entertainment or riveting wheel-to-wheel
battles.
Last years race was so gripping that Renault issued a press
release about the engine rules in the middle of it.
It is, in short, the sort of place where drivers wait for the pit
stops rather than attempt an overtaking move.
If one man can break that tradition and turn a potential
snooze-fest into a thriller, its surely Lewis Hamilton, who has
shown an uncanny knack for finding inventive new passing places
during his first season of F1.
Recently, of course, Hamilton has had no need to exercise those
skills, having dominated the two North American races from the
front.
No matter how often they are recited, the 22-year-olds
achievements in his rookie season still beggar belief: seven
podiums in seven races, two accomplished wins, and a 10-point title
lead over his double world champion team-mate.
Its that remarkable record, rather than any real bad blood between
the McLaren stable-mates, that has put Fernando Alonsos nose out
of joint.
The Spaniard admitted at Indianapolis that, while Hamiltons winter
testing pace showed he would have few problems adapting to F1, he
had not expected Lewis to set the world alight in the way he
has.
As Pat Symonds has observed, Alonso is an intensely competitive
individual who finds being beaten extremely difficult to deal with
like most great champions.
But despite the theatrical swerve towards the pit wall, there were
signs at Indy that he has begun to readjust his mindset to the
reality of his situation, to accept that there will be days when
Hamilton beats him fair and square, and others when he has the
upper hand.
Unlike in Montreal, Fernando did not throw his car off the road in
his efforts to get the better of Lewis; after a concerted bid to
take the lead was foiled, he settled for eight points, and embraced
his team-mate on the podium.
Perhaps it was a watershed, the moment when Alonso stopped
obsessing about being beaten by an upstart rookie and began to
acknowledge Hamilton as simply a formidable rival, to whom he will
inevitably lose from time to time.
If Fernando has indeed found a new mental equilibrium, he is likely
to prove an even more dangerous opponent for Lewis over the
remainder of the season, and their rivalry which, despite the
tensions it gives rise to, McLaren has so far given an admirably
free rein will only intensify.
Will Alonsos fightback begin at Magny-Cours, where he won
convincingly in 2005 and where Hamilton had one of his few
less-than-stellar GP2 outings last year?
Or can Ferrari reverse the trend of the last three races and get in
on the act?
Certainly, the Maranello squad has been talking up its chances
after an encouraging test at Silverstone last week, where Felipe
Massa set the fastest time.
The Brazilian believes Ferrari has hit upon the causes of its
recent loss of form, and is confident a revised aerodynamic package
and other new parts on the F2007 will bridge the performance gap to
McLaren.
The biggest problem the team has faced is an inability to generate
enough grip from the tyres to match the first-lap pace of its
Mercedes-powered rival, which has kept it off the front row of the
grid since the Spanish GP and allowed BMW Sauber to get within
striking distance.
Given the difficulty of overtaking in France, its fortunes this
weekend are likely to hinge on whether it has successfully
addressed that handicap.
The first race at Magny-Cours, in 1991, was arguably the best,
featuring an absorbing duel between Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell
which the Briton won after a pair of opportunistic passing moves at
the hairpin.
It would be fitting if the unloved Nevers track could bookend its
F1 history with an equally entertaining contest before what we
hope will be the revival of the French GP at another venue in the
not-too-distant future.
Alex Sabine
