For the first time since 2008, Formula 1 is returning to France, at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet. The excitement is REAL!

So we’ve put together some facts you need to know ahead of the first race of F1’s triple header.

• Half of the drivers on grid weren’t even born when the last French Grand Prix at the Paul Ricard circuit happened, and only four of the current drivers – Hamilton, Alonso, Raikkonen and Vettel – did take part.
• This year will be the first time Mercedes has participated in a Grand Prix at Paul Ricard after pulling out of the sport in 1955 and missing the 1971 circuit, only to return in 1993.
• If Max Verstappen claims pole position this weekend, he’ll be the youngest F1 driver to take one. So far he is yet to claim a pole position.
• The track is only one out of a possible 167 layouts of the Paul Ricard circuit.
• If Lewis Hamilton claims pole at Paul Ricard, it will be his 75th, adding to his title of taking the most pole positions of any driver in Formula 1 history.
• Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Charles Leclerc are all yet to lose a position in the first lap of a race this season.
• If Kimi Raikkonen takes pole position, he will be the oldest polesitter since 41-yeard-old Nigel Mansell, who claimed P1 at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix.

Image by Jose Maria Miñarro Vivancos