Missing now very little at the beginning of the second back to back of July which will close this first phase of the season. We are in Le Castellet, in France, on the route of the Paul ricard, a circuit, remodeled after the 90s, which has never won the hearts of the fans, let alone the drivers. Called by all "the parking lot of Esselunga", for the large, very large escape routes, the circuit does not offer much entertainment and for this reason our work in advising you on the forecasts at Fantasy F1, today it is even easier than expected. Let's see with the forecast advice what could happen and what is less likely to happen at Paul Ricard, considering that in Formula 1 everything is possible and that the fight between Red Bull e Ferrari could also turn on thanks to the return of a third wheel, or the Mercedes.
Safety Car: NO
In France we usually see linear tenders, which flow as smooth as oil – maybe even too much. The only critical moment is the departure, and in 2018 right at this stage a contact between Ocon e gasly provoked the only one Safety in Paul Ricard's recent history, to clear debris from the track. The wide escape routes and the absence of gravel limit any sort of accident and this contributes to fueling the mass of insults towards this circuit.
Virtual Safety Car: YES
Should there be reliability problems of any kind, given the heat expected at Le Castellet this weekend, however, the race direction could intervene with a Virtual.
Red flag: NO
The only way we could see a Red flag in France it is for hallucinations from too much heat. Seriously, apart from an accident like "Belgium 1998" or other absurd situations, we don't believe it will be exposed. The Paul Ricard commissioners probably don't even know of the existence of this flag.
Drivers distinguish between wet/full wet tires in the race: DO NOT
It's more probable that the tires will melt due to the heat expected at Le Castellet. On Sunday it should be around 34-35° and a stone splitting sun. This week there is no doubt!
Team double in the race: NO
In France, one is expected three-way fight, with Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes. Hard to think that one team among these prevails overwhelmingly. In addition, Perez has not been shining lately in the face of a growing Sainz but who is not comparable to the level of Leclerc and Verstappen, our two top captains of Fanta F1. Furthermore Sainz it could start from the bottom, if it mounts a new Power Unit, but there is still no official announcement.
Driver who starts on pole wins the race: DO NOT
This time we go against the tide. In three of the last races held at Paul Ricard, the winner always started from Pole. It would therefore be logical to put "YES". But this year is not so obvious, as Austria showed us last. Furthermore, Paul Ricard is not Monaco – unfortunately. You overtake and overtake against each other, even if managing the tires will be more tiring for those who are following.
Stables to bring both cars into the top 10: 4
On this however we are confident and we trust the statistics that lead us to 4 as the number of teams to bring both cars into the top 10. There are many teams who want and can get back into the game. Alpine, McLaren, AlphaTauri, Haas which comes from two weekends in which he took both riders into the top 10. And that's just to name a few.
Vehicles forced to retire: 2
Given that we still expect an interesting race with profusion of overtaking, it is not so obvious to see a DNF at Le Castellet. Last year for example, they all finished the race. The last to cross the finish line in that case was Mazepin. This year, however, the reliability alarm went off over and over again, upsetting every result even at Fanta F1.
