Situated in central France, Magny-Cours is the smoothest of all the circuits, boasting top-class pit facilities. It is full of slow turns, and hairpins, but many fans find little to get excited about, as it holds very little in the way of challenge.

The first Grand Prix held here was in 1991, when Nigel Mansell won for Williams, after a long battle with the Ferrari of Alain Prost. He won again in 1992, in a wet/dry race, and in 1993, Prost made it three in a row for the Williams team.

After his success in the IndyCar Championship, Mansell had returned to Formula One briefly, and was there for the 1994 race. Although he qualified on the front row of the grid, he failed to complete the race, and Michael Schumacher raced to victory, as he did again in 1995. He wasn't lucky a third time, as his Ferrari blew up on the parade lap in 1996, and Damon Hill took the win.

In 1997, Michael Schumacher raced the Ferrari home once again, with Heinz-Harald Frentzen coming in second. The following year saw the first Ferrari one-two victory in eight years as Schumacher won again, followed home by team-mate Eddie Irvine.

1999 saw Jordan driver, Heinz-Harald Frentzen take the victory in one of the best races at the French circuit. In constantly changing weather conditions, the German drove to victory, still unaware that he was actually driving with a broken kneecap due to an incident in the Canadian Grand Prix two weeks earlier.

McLaren driver David Coulthard got the best of the track and the other 21 competitors in 2000, the Scot taking victory ahead of team-mate Mika Hakkinen and Ferrari driver, Rubens Barrichello. Schumacher won for Ferrari in both 2001 and wrapped up his fifth world title with another win in 2002, the eleventh event on the calendar.

Williams dominated the 2003 edition of the race. Ralf Schumacher won the event, followed by his team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya. Michael Schumacher was back to his winning ways in 2004 taking his seventh French Grand Prix triumph with Fernando Alonso finishing second in the Renault ahead of Rubens Barrichello who made a superb last lap pass on the red-faced Jarno Trulli in the second Renault.

Starting 13th due to an engine change penalty, Kimi Raikkonen drove a storming race in 2005 but was unable to catch Pole sitter Fernando Alonso who beat him to the chequered flag by just over ten seconds.