Formula One travels to France for the 11th round of the 2002 season, a race that could see the Drivers' Championship being wrapped up by Michael Schumacher in a record time. His rivals, however, will try their best to delay something that seems inevitable. Atlas F1's Will Gray previews the event and reviews the teams' options ahead of the Magny-Cours race

The formerly nomadic French Grand Prix settled at Magny-Cours amid some controversial legal dealings which ended the stint of races at the more popular Paul Ricard track.

Reims-Gueux, Rouen-les Essarts, Clermont Ferrand, Le Mans and Dijon-Prenois all hosted the event before it settled in Paul Ricard, but with the current location now reaching its 11th anniversary, the race has well and truly found its home.

The surrounding emptiness of fields and grazing pastures traditional in the areas of central France leave race fans with little to do but to watch the racing and enjoy the summer sunshine, which is a usually ever-present feature of Magny-Cours. But despite a relative lack of atmosphere around the circuit, there is plenty of buzz on the track as the tight hairpin allows for plenty of overtaking - and this year, of course, there is the small matter of a Championship to be wrapped up.

Current World Champion Michael Schumacher could set records tumbling again this weekend, even if he simply manages to finish. If he reaches the chequered flag, it will be the 17th consecutive time he has done so - completing a full season's worth of races without a breakdown.

Add to that the possibility for Schumacher to seal his record-equalling fifth world title in a record-beating time (beating previous fastest winner Nigel Mansell in 1992) and it all adds up to a potentially very special weekend for the German.

But waiting to spoil the party are the two Williams drivers - one Schumacher's arch rival Juan Pablo Montoya, of Colombia, and the other his own brother, Ralf, who are both desperate to make Schumacher's title race go the distance...not to mention the German's resurgent teammate Rubens Barrichello.

Both Ferrari and Williams have laid claims that the Magny-Cours track will be to their liking, and much is likely to depend, once again, on the performance of their relative tyre companies Bridgestone and Michelin.

The race is the beginning of a high-pressure period for drivers, teams and journalists, as it is the first of two back-to-back races which will see everyone involved in the Grand Prix circus having to make double-quick time between France and the next event, in Germany, which begins just four days after the Magny-Cours race.

Not that such trivial planning dilemmas will bother Schumacher or his Ferrari team. They know that one of the two races will, more than likely, present them with either one or both of the World Championships, and although they insist they have not hit cruise control, recent admissions that there will be only two more significant developments for the F2002 this season suggest as much.

Schumacher needs to finish first, with his rival Montoya and teammate Rubens Barrichello in third or lower to take the title, so by finishing second, his brother Ralf could help him seal the title. Such a scenario looks to be pretty unlikely, however because there have been just one occasion in the ten races this season when the Schumacher pair have finished one-two with the elder brother on top.

Qualifying king Montoya will be hoping his fifth pole position in a row will give him a helping hand in keeping the title race open for one more race, but he is also unlikely to stop Schumacher claiming the title as he has finished second to the German just twice this year, and the last time that occurred was at the Spanish Grand Prix six races ago.

So, it seems, the most likely candidate to stop Schumacher's success is Barrichello, because he could still mathematically take the title if he finishes second behind Schumacher or better.

Ferrari have taken a one-two finish in the last two races, and, in fact, in five of the last seven, with Schumacher winning all but three of the season's events. So Barrichello could force his teammate to win the title in Germany - which would not be too much to Schumacher's disliking.

Whatever, in truth, only if Schumacher took part in a football tournament planned for Thursday and injured himself would any driver in the chasing pack still have a chance of ultimately stopping his romp to the title - and a win in Germany would still give him the fastest ever Championship.

Ignoring the Ferrari runaway train, behind, in the chasing pack, there is a real fight for the runners-up spot and although this could soon be turned into a battle for third if Ferrari help Barrichello to create a breakaway from the pack, this is where the real excitement is.

Just six points cover the Championship positions of Barrichello, Montoya, Schumacher Jr and McLaren's David Coulthard, who can all claim to be in with a shot of the coveted second place behind the all-conquering Schumacher.

Meanwhile, Finn Kimi Raikkonen, also of McLaren is closing up after some disappointing early results, while Jenson Button is hoping to make it a memorable home race for Renault in the team's first return to French soil as a manufacturer since 1985.

At the back of the grid, Arrows will do well to simply turn up, while Minardi will be hoping to fight back from their slip down the order now the money from Prost's television revenues has landed safely in their bank account.

Set-up and layout

The smooth and relatively featureless circuit at Magny-Cours mirrors the environment around it, but on track it is particularly challenging for the drivers and engineers alike.

The track, like most others on the circuit, demands teams to use a typically medium downforce aerodynamic set-up on their cars, as there are several long straights coupled by a number of twisty sections which demand all-round ability from the cars and drivers.

Any team that lacks power will have a tough time overtaking, because the only place to truly attack is at the tight hairpin, which sits at the end of a very long straight where cars will easily reach 300km/h. One particularly unusual and perhaps very challenging feature of the track is the tight chicane at the end of the lap, just before the Lychee corner which leads onto the start-finish straight.

The corner is approached over a brow, making it particularly difficult to spot the apex, and it can often see numerous drivers end up in the gravel rather than complete their lap. But generally, the circuit is wide and flowing, with plenty of run-off areas which leave spectators some way from the action, but still allow them to see the drivers tackling some tough corners - even if it is at a distance.

But perhaps the most difficult factor of the circuit is the temperature changes, which can affect running significantly not from hour to hour but from minute to minute making strategy and timing during qualifying sessions crucial to a driver and team's success over the weekend.

The ultra-smooth track is ultra sensitive to temperature, and as oversteer develops as the temperature rises, the teams will have to anticipate set-up changes throughout a session to cope with the differing grip levels offered by the asphalt around the track.

But the smooth nature of the circuit allows teams to run very low cars to gain more downforce from increased ground effect because the floor of the car is closer to the track, and that can only help the car to remain stable in the rapid high-speed direction changes seen around the track.

Traction for the slow corners is also required, and that will be provided by mechanical grip on the cars, from suspension stiffness and tyre grip, as well as electronically from a good traction control system. Race strategy, meanwhile, remains under debate and very much depends on what tyre compounds the rival manufacturers Bridgestone and Michelin provide their teams with. But it is likely that a two-stopper will be favourite for most.

A lap of Magny-Cours with Jarno Trulli

"At the start of the lap I enter a very fast left-hand corner and I'll be changing into top gear, taking it at 280 km/h. It is quite easy flat, but I need to position the car well on exit as it leads into the important right-hander at Turn Two.

"I will be approaching this corner, at just under 290 km/h and due to the camber I almost take two apexes through it, hitting the first one at around 200 km/h and then dropping down to around 175 km/h for the second, while holding fourth gear throughout.

"It's a difficult corner since the car will always tend to understeer here due to the high loading on the left hand tyre and my aim will be minimise understeer to get good speed on the main straight that follows.

"At the end of this straight, I will be doing around 300 km/h in top gear before braking very hard, typically at 4g, and then dropping down to first gear and 60 km/h for the hairpin. Exiting the corner is difficult and often during the race the entry to the corner is offline if you have to defend your position.

"However, on exiting it, I will get up to around 280 km/h in top gear just getting into sixth gear before entering the first of the fast chicanes. This is a right-left chicane with the first part taken at 215 km/h in fourth gear and the second part being almost but not quite flat with just a small lift as I apex around 230 km/h before reaching the next left-hand hairpin.

"I should get to 260kmh in fifth gear before dropping to second at around 88 km/h, which makes this a slightly quicker hairpin than the first one. The exit from this corner is similar to exit from the first hairpin in that I will reach 285 km/h in top gear before entering the second of the very fast chicanes.

"This is again a right-left chicane and it differs from the first one in that the first part of the chicane is quicker than the second part. Like the first chicane it is also taken in fourth gear but my apexes will be at 220 km/h and 210 km/h. In addition, there is a bit of a dip in the track here which adds extra load to the car.

"On exiting the chicane, I will hold fourth gear to around 230 km/h before dropping down to second gear and around 95 km/h for another long right hand corner. As I head back towards the pit area, I should just get into fifth gear at 260 km/h before entering the final chicane, which is much slower than the previous two and is taken in second gear at between 120 km/h and 130 km/h.

"On exit, I won't get to full throttle before having to brake again for the final very tight corner, which I will take at 70 km/h in first gear. The start/finish line is very close to the exit corner so for a good qualifying lap I need to pay particular attention to this exit as I cross the finish line at 140 km/h in second gear."

Team by Team

Ferrari

Once again, the domination of Ferrari makes it highly likely that the Italian team will take victory and, possibly, another one-two finish at Magny-Cours, even though Williams-BMW are likely to provide them with a strong challenge this time - that has happened on the last two occasions, at least.

The team will also step up their game again with the introduction of a new aerodynamic package for this weekend's race, which they were intensely testing at two test tracks in Italy last week. That threatens to push them further ahead of the chasing pack again, as Williams and Renault have already introduced a similar update for their aerodynamics in previous races.

Michael Schumacher's vital statistics in the French Grand Prix also do not bode well for his rivals, with the German taking five wins out of eight races at the Magny-Cours track - more than 50 percent of the events he has race in there.

Schumacher has also finished every one of this year's races, be it in the old F2001 car which he raced in the opening two events of the year, or in the new F2002, which has failed to reach the finish just once (in the hands of Rubens Barrichello) out of 15 participations since Schumacher raced it in Brazil and both drivers got behind the wheel of one of the machines from San Marino onwards.

Williams

The Grove-based team are still looking like the best of the rest, with Juan Pablo Montoya's pole position run giving them a helping hand to get to the front at least for the start of the races. But reliability has been poor since engine suppliers BMW felt they had to up engine power at the risk of a few breakdowns in a quest to find a performance level at which they could at least keep up with Ferrari.

Montoya only got to the end of a race for the first time in four events at Silverstone, after a lean patch for the Colombian driver allowed rival Schumacher to race away with the Championship lead. Ralf Schumacher has also failed to finish twice this year, and that adds up to five times the failure rate of Ferrari's F2002 machine.

Like their Italian rivals, Williams were testing at two circuits last week, in Monza, Italy, and Valencia, Spain, but the Spanish test was more useful for this weekend as Monza work was more to set up the car for the Italian Grand Prix later in the year.

Michelin tyres could again prove their saviour or their Achille's heel, depending on the weather but, perhaps more damagingly, a less effective chassis will do them few favours on the medium-to-fast track.

McLaren

Again, the use of Michelin tyres could be a help or a hindrance at Magny-Cours, but the lack of power from Mercedes' unit this year should in itself dent the team's hopes of a podium finish.

The team are pinning their hopes on what was described as "reasonably big development items" which they have been testing at the French circuit of Paul Ricard, even though the test was hampered by severe damage to one of their chassis, after Finn Kimi Raikkonen drove it over a kerb, as well as an engine failure.

Raikkonen will be hoping for a bit more reliability from his McLaren after finishing just three of the ten races, but has proved his pace by finishing third twice and fourth once in those events where he has seen the chequered flag.

Coulthard, meanwhile, will be desperate not to lose touch with Williams drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher in the race for third place after failing to get in the points in the last two races, including an embarrassing performance in the wet at Silverstone in his home Grand Prix.

Renault

If one race this season is crucial for the new French team on the block, then this is it. In front of top bosses from the Renault-Nissan group, the team must prove that their new venture into Formula One is worthwhile. But as much as it is important for Renault, it is even more crucial to British driver Jenson Button, who is in serious peril of losing his drive at the competitive team for 2003.

The track is expected to suit the R202 car, because it is widely acclaimed as a 'good all rounder' which has good traction for the slow corners, good stability for the fast ones, and a pretty efficient aerodynamic package. The only drawback for Renault is their engine power, which is currently lacking because of their gamble on a revolutionary wide V-angle design which they are still trying to perfect.

The British Grand Prix was a disappointing race for the team, but one of the two drivers has scored points in seven of the 10 races so far, and they are even targeting a podium finish this time.

Sauber

After an impressive start which saw the team rise to fifth in the Constructors' Championship, the Swiss team seemed to have begun their usual 'tailing-off' period which has been evident in most of the past years as they headed to the mid-season point.

But two sixth place finishes in the last two races, one each for Felipe Massa and Nick Heidfeld, have shown they can still compete with the top teams, even if they can only do it on certain tracks - and only when their Bridgestone tyres are performing well.

Last week's test at Valencia has improved their hopes of a competitive performance as the hot weather allowed them to assess the tyres in similar conditions to those expected at Magny-Cours this weekend. But for more points to come onto the board, the pair of drivers need to improve their qualifying performances and Massa, who was constantly sliding off the circuit at the last race in Britain, needs to calm his driving style.

Jordan

With the problematic finances apparently solved, the Irish-owned team are hoping to bring in more developments to keep pace with their rivals in a tightly-fought midfield battle for the scraps left over by the bigger teams.

Brakes, development aerodynamics, gearbox reliability and set-up were all on the worksheet for Giancarlo Fisichella at the Valencia test last week, but it is now two races since he scored points and he will be keen to turn that around this weekend.

Honda-powered rivals British American Racing have now closed in on Jordan's six-points haul in the Championship and lie one point behind on five, so the battle between the Japanese-powered teams is heating up.

Japanese driver Takuma Sato desperately needs to score some points as soon as he can as his place in the team could be in jeopardy if it gets to the point where there are four races remaining and he still has no score - especially if Honda chose to split with Jordan and side with BAR.

BAR

On a high after a four-five finish at the British Grand Prix, the Brackley-based team will be keen to continue their roll as the new Honda engine, introduced for the first time in a race at Silverstone, beds in and the new aerodynamic package, introduced in Canada, is honed.

The team worked hard on set-up for the French Grand Prix with a test at Monza last week, and French driver Olivier Panis, the only home racer on the grid this weekend, will be desperate to perform well in front of his fans.

Jaguar

After a disappointing debut for the heavily-modified R3 car at Silverstone, the team have been working on a two-car test at Monza in an effort to solve what driver Eddie Irvine has described as a "fundamental set-up problem" which refuses to go away.

Their plight was not helped when Australian test driver James Courtney crashed heavily in the test at the Italian circuit and was taken to hospital, but as he was driving an old R3 car there are no concerns that the team will have to revert to an old-spec car for one of their drivers this weekend.

They could be helped by the performance of their Michelin tyres in warm weather, but there is little else expected to provide an improvement, although they will be hoping not to have a repeat of their 19th and 21st qualifying positions at Silverstone.

Arrows

The debt-riddled team's cars were sent to France only on Tuesday night as boss Tom Walkinshaw continued to search for a solution to the cash problems which almost prevented them from competing in the last race at Silverstone.

When the cars are on track they seem to still perform well and, despite their funding problems, the team continued development with another test at Spain's Valencia circuit, where driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen topped the times on one of the three days.

Some encouraging performances at the British Grand Prix will give the team hope of a surprise points scoring finish, but their biggest victory of the weekend will again be simply getting the funding to enter the race.

Toyota

After a disastrous race at Silverstone which promised much but delivered nothing as both cars were out after 15 laps, left the team disappointed again as they failed to improve on their current two-points haul. Their surprise early-season performance has deteriorated and neither driver has scored a point since the third race of the year, in Brazil, when Mika Salo claimed his second sixth place in three races.

Electronics and clutch problems seem to be their downfall at the moment, and they continue to work on those areas in a four-day test at Monza last week, taking young Australian test driver Ryan Briscoe out of Formula 3000 to concentrate on improving the car.

Scot Allan McNish is now strongly under pressure to perform as other drivers queue up for his seat and he must change the statistics which show him outqualified by Salo in every race and still to get on the scoreboard.

Minardi

Still suffering from under-funding of (nearly) the highest order, Minardi are trying to get by on a shoestring budget and boss Paul Stoddart's eyes have turned away from racing and firmly onto sponsorship security.

To lure new and retain existing sponsors, however, Stoddart desperately needs Malaysian driver Alex Yoong to improve. He failed to qualify for the second time this year at Silverstone, and he is having a really difficult time of it.

He has not been helped by a lack of testing and once again the team were the only one of the 11 in the Championship to stay at their factory rather than go running in an effort to develop the car.