Five Things we learnt from the French Grand Prix

Shortly before the end of the summer break, we would like to revisit the final race in France. So here it is, with some delay: Five things we learned from France.

Walter and Schubert – A duel escalates

It was only a matter of time before the smouldering embers developed into an open fire: There had already been confrontations between Sven Schubert and Bastian Paisler, and now the Razor team boss's teammate also had to experience what it's like to stand up to Sven Schubert. Fabian Walter surprisingly started the race from pole position after it had long looked as if Schubert would take pole. But the Swabian wanted to regain first place at the start, which ended in a collision that ended Walter's race and led to victory for the Optiminal driver. An enraged Bastian Paisler then openly declared war on Schubert; this had been heard before from Paisler, but the renewed affirmation suggests that there is still a lot of friction to come.

Chaos in lap 1 – flying and crashing cars everywhere

The first lap at Magny-Cours was marked by chaos. As mentioned above, there was the accident between Schubert and Walter. But the drama continued after that: there were some aggressive attacks in the hairpin bends, which miraculously did not lead to any collisions. But most of the excitement took place in the last sector: Bintz attacked Wiegels, who was in fourth position, causing the former to spin out. This forced Kraft and Dicks to slow down and take evasive action, creating an accordion effect. Many drivers had to swerve or lost their composure. Dicks' teammate cut into the chicane, the German then swerved over the kerbs and flew through the air, while five other drivers all swapped positions. At the end of lap 1, it was hardly possible to tell who was where, which confused even the commentators. A chaotic start to the French Grand Prix.

Alvin Tran and the VFC – a difficult relationship

Alvin Tran doesn't have it particularly easy. The young American has been with the VFC since race 2 and has also been Simspark's second regular driver since the third race. But Tran has not had any great moments of success so far. The Simspark driver has two retirements and a total of five races without points to his name, often combined with many mistakes, several laps down and strange moments. In the last race, the American had to deal with Jörn Dicks; a duel that ended in an accident for Dicks after Tran lost control of his car in turn 2 and slid violently across the grass, finally crashing into the Blue Horns at full speed. Many of these moments could be attributed to the inexperience and youthfulness of the Simspark driver, but Alvin Tran needs to improve, because Simspark is unlikely to want to put up with this for much longer.

Dicks and the second half of the season – problems with motivation

The back and forth at Blue Horns before the French Grand Prix was confusing for many; Jörn Dicks announced the evening before the race that he would not be driving. However, the driver from Bonn did not seem to be missing anything, as he was spotted driving old Formula 1 cars on a PC in his team's garage. Then Juho Sopanen unexpectedly dropped out, which meant that Dicks got back into the cockpit, but with a face like Lance Stroll on a Monday. According to Dicks himself, the race was the worst he had had in a long time. So the speculation about the German continued. At the moment, the rumour is that Dicks lacks motivation, despite his best start to the season so far. Sometimes he trains late or not at all, or, as is now the case in France, refuses to drive altogether. However, the summer break is said to have contributed to a degree of recovery, which has boosted the Bonn driver's motivation. Although he has not yet been seen on the track, that could change today, Thursday.

Back to his old self – Kraft's return to the VFC

It came as a bit of a surprise to many at the VFC: when Alexander Kraft showed up in the paddock for the French Grand Prix, there was immediately a lot of speculation about his role. However, this was quickly confirmed when Yellow Arrow Racing announced that the German would be sitting in the yellow racer for this race. And the former race winner immediately showed that he is still a strong driver with talent: Although he only managed P7 in qualifying, he quickly fought his way through the field and engaged in exciting duels. In the end, he finished in 4th place and scored valuable points for Yellow Arrow Racing. After not driving a single race in the VFC in 2024, Kraft was now back as a substitute driver. But whether it will remain a one-off appearance is more than questionable, as Kraft seems to have taken a liking to the cars and has offered to help out another team at Hockenheim. Perhaps this is also the first step back to a regular driver's cockpit in the VFC 2025/2026?