Circuit Paul Ricard · Le Castellet
53 laps · 5.842 km per lap · Pirelli C2 Hard / C3 Medium / C4 Soft
Circuit Paul Ricard is a bonus circuit not on the 2026 calendar, last hosting F1 in 2022. It's instantly recognisable for its extensive blue-and-red painted run-off areas — the widest safety margins of any Formula 1 venue — a design that trades traditional gravel traps for vast asphalt run-off that lets a car rejoin quickly after a mistake.
The lap is dominated by the Mistral Straight, one of the longest on any circuit PITWALL models, which leads into a chicane inserted specifically to control approach speed before flowing into Signes — a fast, banked corner taken at over 320 km/h that ranks among the most demanding in motorsport.
Degradation runs on the lower side of the calendar, and the circuit's exceptional width supports multiple racing lines through most corners, giving it a moderate but genuine overtaking score.
This guide uses the C2 Hard, C3 Medium and C4 Soft, matching the real compound nomination from Paul Ricard's 2018–2022 Grands Prix.
Durable enough to anchor a one-stop race given the circuit's mild degradation, forming the backbone of most straightforward strategies.
A common starting tyre and the anchor of two-stop plans, offering a clear pace advantage over the Hard while managing a competitive stint length.
Q3 runners start on the Soft under the usual rules. Its shorter life is a manageable factor given the circuit's overall mild degradation.
The Mistral Straight is Paul Ricard's defining feature — long enough that even a modest power deficit becomes visible by the braking zone at its end, making the mid-straight chicane a genuine overtaking opportunity for a car with a strong exit from the preceding corners.
Signes itself, while not a traditional passing zone, rewards a car that can carry serious minimum speed through a banked, high-load corner — the exit speed directly feeds into the next sector, making it one of the most technically demanding single corners PITWALL models.
The standard plan given Paul Ricard's mild degradation: start on the Medium, pit once for the Hard, and use the Mistral Straight chicane to defend or attack as the race develops.
A pace-focused alternative for a driver who needs to make up ground, using consistently fresher tyres to attack into the Mistral chicane.
Given how directly Signes' exit speed feeds the following sector, drivers prioritise a consistent, repeatable line through the corner over a marginal single-lap gain, since a poor exit costs time well beyond the corner itself.
The Mistral Straight is by far Paul Ricard's biggest deployment opportunity, given its exceptional length — a well-charged battery there produces one of the largest single-straight speed advantages PITWALL models.
The technical Turn 1-3 sequence and the final sector provide the circuit's main harvesting opportunities, recovering the energy needed for the long run down the Mistral.
A one-stop is 12.1 s faster than the best two-stop in clean air.
One-stop pit window: lap 19–29 of 53
Single car, no traffic, track position or Safety Car — so PITWALL shows stop count and timing but no compound order: in 2026 the model prefers finishing on softs, while teams mostly ran medium → hard. Model circuit-1. How the model is calibrated →
Build your strategy for Paul Ricard in PITWALL. Master the exit onto the Mistral Straight and hold your line through the banked Signes corner.
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