A Grand Prix of France in 2013?

France has not hosted the Formula 1 extravaganza since 2008 because, due to lack of financial means, the French event disappeared from the calendar. To remedy this, several projects were studied, such as a circuit in Marne-La-Vallée, or Val d’Europe, and even a return to Magny-Cours was mentioned. But none of these projects will ever come to fruition.

François Fillon, a great motorsports enthusiast, wishes to establish a working group with the aim of organizing a French Grand Prix in F1 in 2013. This group is composed of major figures in French motorsports, such as representatives of the FFSA, Eric Boullier, the director of Lotus Renault GP, and Gérard Neveu, the director of the Castellet circuit.

Moreover, the latter could host the future French Grand Prix as the circuit in the South of France has already been the host of the national Grand Prix from 1974 to 1991, and it is the only plausible candidate for a Grand Prix in the near future. However, it will be necessary to find a sum approaching 25 million euros to organize it, as the constraints established by Bernie Ecclestone are significant. The F1’s chief financier leaves only the ticket sales as revenue for the host country, which represents almost nothing compared to the costs of organizing a Grand Prix.

An alternation with the Belgian Grand Prix could be considered to facilitate such a return. This possibility was announced in the Belgian press a few weeks ago. The Minister of Economy of the Walloon Region, Jean-Claude Marcourt, then specified that it was only a possibility and that no discussions had taken place in this regard.

Hoping to see a Formula 1 race in a few years on a French circuit.