[2] The original track was dominated by the 1.8 km (1.1 mi) long Mistral Straight that is followed by the high-speed right hand Signes corner.

The long main straight and other fast sections made the track very hard on engines as they ran at full revs for extended spells.

During qualifying for the 1985 race, Swiss driver Marc Surer clocked what was at the time the highest speed recorded by a Formula One car on the Mistral when he pushed his turbocharged, 1,000 bhp (746 kW; 1,014 PS) Brabham-BMW to 335 km/h (208 mph).

This compared to the slowest car in the race, the 550 bhp (410 kW; 558 PS) naturally aspirated Tyrrell-Ford V8 of Stefan Bellof which could only manage 277 km/h (172 mph).

Effectively, after the start, instead of heading into the left hand Verrerie sweeper, cars now braked hard and turned sharp right into a short run that connected the pit straight to the Mistral.

After Ricard's death, the track was sold to Excelis, a company owned by Formula One promoter Bernie Ecclestone, in 1999.

The track has also hosted some races, including the 2006 Paul Ricard 500km, a round of the FIA GT Championship.

On 5 December 2016, it was announced that the French Grand Prix would return to the Formula 1 calendar for the 2018 season at Paul Ricard.

The runoff surface consists of a mixture of asphalt and tungsten, used instead of gravel traps, as common at other circuits.

[13] The official lap record for the current F1 circuit layout (1C-V2) is 1:32.740, set by Sebastian Vettel during the 2019 French Grand Prix.

While the unofficial all-time track record is 1:28.319, set by Lewis Hamilton during final qualifying for the aforementioned 2019 race.

As of November 2024, the fastest official race lap records at the Circuit Paul Ricard are listed as: