This statement cannot be further from the truth.
Paul Ricard on average over the last three races here has had some of the most overtakes through the field, coming 2nd on a list of most, on par with Bahrain! It has two DRS zones, which are just about the right length for passes to be made in the braking zone, and both are followed by a section of corners that allow the racing to continue after. The chicane on the Mistral
works because it means the second part of the straight ISN'T a DRS zone, and Signes and Le Beausset are really epic high-speed corners which the cars go side-by-side through, regularly. In 2018 especially there were plenty of passes through that corner and they were absolute balls-to-the-wall passes.
This track has some of the most non-DRS passes on the calendar, on par with the amounts you see at Silverstone. I thought we are supposed to hate DRS, so why does a track that allows passes without it get ignorant hate like this?
The blue and red runoff areas are the only bits of tarmac in the world that the drivers don't like running wide onto - so self-policing track limits (again something everybody complained about last week for not having). Put it this way, at least it's not painted in that frigging ARAMCO colours.
This circuit gets bad rap because Hamilton won two races there at a canter. In 2018 he was left alone because his two rivals crashed at T1, and in 2019 he was the quickest driver all season without even trying. Midfield battles have always been mega here and in 2021 it finally spread to the front.
Who says the runoff areas are too small? Just ask Marcus Ericsson, Lance Stroll, Romain Grosjean, Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Wurz where the walls are
Paul Ricard gives us all the racing we ask for, but it's constantly being shat on by people complaining about stuff that is way too harsh and is just a reason to complain. Racing would be worse if the Mistral chicane was removed. This track has every mix of corners, and you'll notice that camera angles are deliberately chosen to highlight the layout that the cars are using. If you're getting lost trying to follow the race, that sounds like a you problem because it doesn't take more than a lap to work it out - the drivers certainly don't struggle as it is well signposted.
This circuit has QUANTITY of racing and QUALITY. 2021 was an epic race and was what the circuit should be, rather than an outlier.
