A large-scale, glamorous and popular event, joy was on display at the Paul Ricard circuit on Sunday 24 June during the Formula 1 French Grand Prix Final. After 10 years of absence on our territory, this great return of F1 is a success, 160 000 spectators were present at Le Castellet during the long race weekend, causing big traffic jams on the first day, then controlled the following days. There were people there to spot the track on Thursday, the tension increased crescendo with the Friday tests, then 50,000 people experienced Saturday's qualifying and 65,000 was around the track on Sunday for the final. Motor sport enthusiasts, holiday enthusiasts, families with children, everyone was thrilled on Sunday. The French patrol and the flying man Franky Zapata made the eyes shine and raised the public's hair during beautiful aerial demonstrations. The race has been overtaken by Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) since practice and qualifying (he took the 75th pole position of his career); the British rider's victory allowed him to regain the lead in the world championship, ahead of Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) who finished 5th. 2nd place for Max Verstappen (Red Bull), Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) took third place on the podium after a great duel at the end of the race against Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull). Our two Frenchmen Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) and Esteban Ocon (Force India) had to give up after a collision from the first corners. And Sébastien Grosjean third Frenchman on the grid finished in 11th place.
This crazy weekend ended with the concert of David Guetta who despite the rain at the end did not hesitate to send the watts and new songs!
From a tourism point of view, the economic impact is estimated at 65 million euros, with 500 sustainable jobs generated by this event. See you next year to vibrate again. Congratulations to GIP GP France for organizing this amazing event!
