The French invented motor racing in Europe. They contributed 'Grand Prix' and a host of other racing words to the English language; produced one of the greatest drivers of all time; and were responsible for many of the most important developments in the history of F1. But today interest in the sport is waning in its homeland, the only Frenchman left on the grid is the oldest driver out there and the promoters of the French Grand Prix cannot even raise enough money to run the race in 2004. Where did it all go wrong? Caroline Reid looks for answers

The very first motor racing Grand Prix was held on a sunny June weekend in 1906 at Le Mans, then a 103 kilometre challenge with no barriers between spectators and competitors and mechanics accompanying the drivers in their cars. Faced with a strong international turn out, the race was won by a Franco-Hungarian by the name of Francois (Ferenc) Szisz at the wheel of a 90 horse power Renault AK. It was a moment of extreme significance for international motorsport and was completely dominated by the French.

Now, almost a century later, French Formula One is in crisis. It isn't just due to the probable loss of the French Grand Prix due to a lack of funding. Audiences and attendances have plummeted and there is a shortage of young driving talent coming through to capture the nation's imagination. The only French driver in F1 last season was Toyota driver Olivier Panis, the oldest man on the grid. Even the return of Renault has provided little inspiration.

Ironically the nation still stars at rallying, with Sebastien Loeb coming within an inch of the world title in 2003 and Citroen and Peugeot taking first and second in the manufacturers' championship. There are a host of top French touring car and sportscar drivers, but leaving aside the ageing Panis, France's top single-seater racer is Sebastien Bourdais, this year competing successfully in the struggling CART series in America but who seems to have been all but forgotten about in Formula One.

The End of the French Grand Prix?

When France was given provisional status on the 2004 calendar "subject to a new contract", nobody batted an eyelid. It appeared to be just one of those anomalies on the calendar that crop up every year and nothing more is heard of them. Everyone's attention was on the problems in Canada and its on-off relationship with the 2004 calendar, and to a lesser extent on the political wrangling in Sao Paulo, Brazil. No one expected there would be any problems elsewhere.

Hence news that France was in trouble came as a shock to the Formula One world. The promoters at Magny-Cours had failed to come up with the sanction fee owed to commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone after scraping together the money for 2003. In all, the kitty fell seven million euros short. The track could not afford it, the local government could not afford it, and the national government showed little inclination to pay it.

Magny-Cours has since signed a new five-year contract with Ecclestone from 2005, hoping that the money saved this year would plug the deficit in 2005. The situation is hardly ideal and raises the question of what will happen if the sanction fee cannot be paid for 2006. France also has another problem. The teams are only contracted for 17 races a season and are asking for an extra $2 million each to turn up for an 18th race. If France finds itself last to join the calendar the local government may find it is asked to pay $20 million to the teams as well.

There is talk of the French Grand Prix moving to the Ecclestone-owned Paul Ricard circuit in 2004 but that may not be possible. The track is an excellent test venue but is lacking the facilities for a fully fledged Grand Prix. When Silverstone made improvements to access and infrastructure it cost $60 million and several years of work. In addition, Paul Ricard would need to provide a fully-fitted media centre, hospitality facilities, spectator facilities and grandstands. It is also very difficult to get to, accessed by the twisty mountain roads where Sir Frank Williams had the accident that paralysed him, and the closest international airports at Nice and Marseilles are not particularly close at all.

The short Bugatti circuit at Le Mans would no doubt need similar work to reach F1's stringent standards. Other great French circuits - such as Dijon-Prenois, Clermont-Ferrand and Pau - are unsuitable for modern F1. And that would do nothing to solve the attendance crisis. A few years ago tickets had to be given away to French school children to fill the seats at Magny-Cours.

Magny-Cours may be located in the middle of nowhere, but it is a modern track with modern facilities. It might have received the 'Magny-Bores' tag in the mid-1990s, but it has produced some excellent races in recent years, in particular in 2000 and 2002. The full infrastructure is in place to host a race and it would clearly be easier to run the French Grand Prix there than anywhere else.

Previously the French Grand Prix has only missed one year since the Formula One World Championship began in 1950 and that was in the aftermath of the 1955 Le Mans tragedy. France virtually invented motor racing, introduced the turbo to Formula One and its drivers have notched up four championships and 79 race victories. Now it is struggling to fund its next race.

The Decline of F1 in France

Ten years ago no one would have believed that Formula One could hit crisis point in France in only a decade's time. In 1993, Alain Prost won his fourth World Drivers' Championship at the wheel of a Williams Renault, which also took the Constructors' title. Thanks to the efforts of Prost and Jean Alesi, French drivers were on the podium for all but two of the 16 races that season. Magny-Cours was the state of the art new home of the French Grand Prix, Jean Todt had just started his tenure at Ferrari, and there were also Philippe Alliot, Eric Comas, Jean-Marc Gounon, Ligier and Larrousse to support French interests.

Such success should have brought a rush of interest in Formula One in France, resulting in an increased number of youngsters taking up karting, the cream of which should just be breaking into Formula One now. But instead there are few young French stars on the fringes of the sport. After 1994, the year that saw the debut of Olivier Panis, there have been only two French rookies in Formula One: Jean-Christophe Boullion and Stephane Sarrazin. Neither completed a full season.

At 36, Panis is now the oldest man on the grid and may well retire when his Toyota contract runs out at the end of 2004. He was the last Frenchman to win a race, his one-off surprise victory back at Monaco in May 1996. The last Frenchman to take a podium place was Jean Alesi at the Belgian Grand Prix in 1998.

Alesi is now involved in a scheme with the French motorsports federation, the FFSA, to promote young French drivers into Formula One, but so far with little success. Franck Montagny has been shoehorned in as Renault's test driver in place of Allan McNish, but shows little likelihood of making a race debut unless one of the regular drivers meets with a last minute misfortune. If Jarno Trulli's contract is not renewed at the end of next season it is virtually guaranteed, according to paddock punters, that Australian Mark Webber will take his place. Sebastien Bourdais, a former Renault tester himself, has struggled for funding for most of his career and despite his success in CART has not caught the eye of the F1 team principals. He is a quiet and shyly spoken individual and his talent alone has not been enough in modern PR-driven F1.

Without a charismatic French driver in the mould of Alesi and Prost consistently challenging for podiums and wins, interest in France is waning. Television figures in France have risen a little in 2003 but are still at an unimpressive average of 3.3 million viewers a race in a country with a population of 60 million. Figures in Germany and Italy are three times as high. Figures in Spain are already half France's total, although this was the first year of full Formula One coverage in the country. The Spanish television programming has been funded by Renault.

The last truly French team, Ligier, became Prost in 1997 and the paddock subsequently discovered that the eponymous owner might have been a great racer but he was an inadequate manager. The team went bust at the beginning of 2002, with Prost blaming a lack of support from the French authorities. At Renault only the wallet and the engine are quintessentially French. The company's team is run by an Italian, driven by an Italian and a Spaniard, and built in the heart of Oxfordshire.

Of course similar things could be said about Ferrari. After all, the team is run by a Frenchman, driven by a German and a Brazilian, and the technical efforts are overseen by a Briton and a South African. But it isn't the same. Ferrari's heart and body are still Italian and that is what counts. Most of Renault's most ardent fans are Spanish and to many F1 enthusiasts Renault is still recognised as Benetton, only with a different name.

There is some true French success in Formula One at the moment and that is through Michelin, French through and through. Also keeping the tricoloure flying is Ferrari team principal, Jean Todt, named by some as the best manager in the sport but sadly for the French using his talents for the glory of Italy.

But gone are the days when the French ran the show. The FIA may well still be the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile and not the International Automobile Federation, but many of its key figures and operations are now based in London rather than Paris, ironically enough in Trafalgar Square, where Nelson's column stands to commemorate the British defeat of the French navy in 1805.

Perhaps Fernando Alonso's victory for Renault at the Hungarian Grand Prix will be the start of something. Then again, perhaps not. Since Hungary, there has been no dramatic increase in French TV audiences, in contrast with Alonso's homeland Spain, where enthusiasm for the sport has never been higher. If not even success for Renault can make a difference, then is there any future for Formula One in France unless a star driver is found?

The Future of F1 in France

Historically, there have been four great nations of Formula One: Britain, Italy, Germany and France. Brazil and Finland may have provided great drivers and Japan great engineering, but only these four nations have provided both for sustained periods of time. But France's influence is now waning as the other three pull further and further away from it in terms of contribution to the sport. It is in real danger of being overtaken by Japan - a country whose current contribution to Formula One includes Toyota, Honda, Bridgestone, Suzuka and Takuma Sato. There is more passion for the sport in countries like Spain and the Netherlands, which lack France's illustrious history, but have produced popular home drivers.

What French Formula One really needs is a driver with the style, talent and charisma of Alesi or Prost, but unless there is more enthusiasm for the sport at home it is unlikely to produce one. Part of the problem for French drivers is that as Formula One is becoming more global there is no longer any room for them. Of the 24 drivers who raced in 2003 there were 14 different nationalities, the highest proportion in modern times and three more nationalities than in 1993 even though there were 11 fewer drivers.

Arguably France has much to be positive about. The country's contribution to current F1 includes a race-winning driver, a race-winning team, a race winning tyre company and a Championship-winning team principal. But there is much to be negative about. It may well not have a Grand Prix next season and may not have a driver the year after.

Does F1 still need France? In terms of Bernie Ecclestone's global vision the sad answer is probably no. If all French contributors to the sport decided to retire at the end of 2004 there would be a shifting of the sands, no doubt, but then the ripples would smooth over and life would go on, while part of the sport's great heritage has slipped away barely noticed.

About the author:
Formula One journalist Caroline Reid has written for publications such as F1 Magazine, EuroBusiness and BusinessF1. She is now a freelance journalist, working in London.