French GP: Mick Schumacher looking forward to challenge of 'confusing' Paul Ricard circuit

Mick Schumacher says the layout of the French Grand Prix circuit at Paul Ricard can get ‘confusing’ thanks to the different layouts available to the track.

Formula 1 is back in the south of France as the second half of the season gets underway at Le Castellet.

It’s a track that returned to the calendar midway through the last decade, but is also one that could leave the schedule as early as next season with no contract agreed between it and the sport over the future past this weekend’s race.

The drivers might be racing here for the last time for a while, then, and Schumacher says that it is a circuit that allows you to push more than most places given the amount of run-off available that allows for mistakes:

“For sure it’s a track where usually you have the opportunity to push quite hard just because you know that you can go over a certain limit sometimes. It’s one of those tracks where you can push harder than other tracks just because you know you have the run off and the chances of you getting near a wall is quite slim. Obviously, if you do a mistake, it’s quite bad for the tyres so you obviously don’t want to do it in an important session, but definitely it’s a track that is quite interesting.”

Mick also revealed it can get quite confusing, given how many different circuit configurations are outlayed around the Grand Prix circuit layout:

“It can be confusing at times due to all the different lines, so it’s not just viewers that get confused, it can also be the drivers too.”