Mick Schumacher admits it is not just the fans that can be confused by the stripes of Paul Ricard.
This weekend, Formula 1 returns for its fourth and potentially final French Grand Prix at the circuit in Le Castellet since its return to the calendar in 2018.
The High Tech Test Track is well-known for its hypnotic run-off areas with blue and red stripes that are made of a more abrasive tarmac to help slow down a car that goes off.
“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,” Schumacher said.
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“It’s one of those tracks where you can push harder than other tracks just because you know you have the runoff 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.”
Additionally, Ricard also has a maze of chicane options along the Mistral straight that often make you wonder how a driver knows exactly which route to take.
“It can be confusing at times due to all the different lines, so it’s not just viewers that get confused,” Mick added, “it can also be the drivers too.”
Schumacher heads to France in the best form of his F1 career with back-to-back points finishes at Silverstone and in Austria.
However, the Haas driver was less confident Paul Ricard would suit their strengths.
“We’re always trying to improve our car or we’re always trying to adapt our car to different places,” he said.
“I think we understand our package pretty well but we’re still trying to maximise it further and learn more from it and see how we can make it quicker.
“I don’t think Paul Ricard is a special track to do that, it’s a track like any other track. We have fewer quick corners there – there’s just one quick corner – which is usually flat anyways in any downforce, so it’s a matter of exploiting the speeds on a straight which we haven’t been great at this year.
“I imagine it’s going to be tough but in a Formula 1 race, there is always a lot of action. Sometimes it can be quiet, and we are where we are, and sometimes there’s a lot of action and you can get through.
“We’ll just have to wait and see how the weekend develops and how we get on.”
