Paul Ricard (Le Castellet)

Paul Ricard
ASA Paul Ricard
Route Nationale 8
F-83330 Le Beausset
France

Tel: +94907427      Fax: +94907275


Track Length: 3.610 miles (Full), 2.369 miles (short). Additional
              1.880 mile circuit.

Located: 22 miles east of Marseille.

First used in 1970, the short circuit wasn't used until 1986. In 2000 the circuit was purchased by Bernie Ecclestone, and underwent an extensive upgrade in order to make it into a test venue. The gravel traps were removed and replaced by tarmac run-off areas, differing stripes of high-friction asphalt being used to slow the cars down. A series of interlinking sections were built to enable a total of 40 track variations to be used, with even the height of the kerbs being able to be changed.

The old track was completely reprofiled: Bendor Chicane was replaced by a bend; Virage Du Pont, du Hotel, du Bendor and du Lac were changed, but Signes wasn't, although there is also an alternate slower bend. Four variants are shown below:

2043m track, used to simulate slow tracks.

3807m track.

4895m track.

5752m track.

In 2018, the French Grand Prix was reinstated, and took place at Paul Ricard. The Mistral Straight was deemed too long for F1, so a chicane was used in the middle. This raised the track length to 5842m, and is shown below.