The French connection
14 January 2010
Why France's driving strength combined makes them a formidable force among nations
The French have had a disappointing time in Formula 1 lately. Neither Sebastien Bourdais nor Romain Grosjean had much to write home about in 2009, and their F1 part-seasons never even overlapped. But the country that invented grand prix racing back in 1906 has a host of top drivers to cheer across most of the international fields of motorsport as a quick perusal of the nations table in the Castrol Rankings will tell you.
Rally talisman Sebastien Loeb began the 2009 season as France's leading driver in the Castrol Rankings, and ended it atop the 'Tricouleur' table too. Loeb's sixth World Rally Championship title with Citroen ensured that he far outscored his countrymen, ending up with almost double the points of his closest compatriot and third overall in the Castrol Rankings, after leading for five months in the middle of the year
Bourdais ended the year as the second-highest Frenchman. As a native of Le Mans he has always had a keen interest in sportscar racing, and his second place in the season-opening Sebring 12 Hours with Peugeot gave him more points than any of his grand prix starts with Toro Rosso. After the F1 dream turned sour, Bourdais continued to score points in the Superleague Formula, with two race wins for Sevilla.
Driver RankingsFrance
| Rank | Driver | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | ↔ | Sébastien Loeb | 19,338 |
| 36 | ↔ | Sébastien Bourdais | 10,490 |
| 43 | ↔ | Simon Pagenaud | 9,892 |
| 67 | ↔ | Jules Bianchi | 7,883 |
| 70 | ↔ | Sebastien Ogier | 7,777 |
| 73 | ↔ | Romain Grosjean | 7,631 |
| 80 | ↔ | Yvan Muller | 7,243 |
| 119 | ↔ | Romain Dumas | 5,713 |
| 136 | ↔ | Julien Jousse | 5,296 |
| 172 | ↔ | Jean-Karl Vernay | 4,656 |
Just behind the bespectacled ex-Champ Car champion in the nation rankings is Simon Pagenaud, who was a multiple race winner in the American Le Mans Series with the Acura of De Ferran Motorsports - proving a match for famed team boss Gil de Ferran into the bargain.
France's brightest hope, F3 Euro Series champion Jules Bianchi, is next. Since the end of the season he has picked up a contract with the Ferrari F1 team, and will no doubt make further strides up the overall table this year, when he remains with the ART Grand Prix team to graduate to the GP2 Series.
Just behind Bianchi is rallying comingman Sebastien Ogier, who added victory on the Monte Carlo Rally in a Peugeot to his solid World Rally Championship campaign with Citroen. Ogier edges out Grosjean, who was scoring more Castrol Rankings points early in the season by winning in GP2 than he did on his underwhelming graduation to F1 with Renault.
Grosjean edges out Yvan Muller, who narrowly failed to successfully defend his World Touring Car Championship title with SEAT.
Sportscar star Romain Dumas is France's eighth-ranked driver. He failed to win a Grand-Am race with the Penske team's Porsche-engined Riley, but consistently high finishes kept him in the frame. That enabled him to beat versatile youngster Julien Jousse, a winner not only in Formula 2, but also in the Chevrolet Corvette GT team run by skiing legend Luc Alphand.
Rounding out France's top 10 is F3 racer Jean-Karl Vernay, whose victory in the Macau Grand Prix in November elevated him into his country's top 10.
The Castrol Rankings is based on drivers' measurable performance over the last 12 months, including everything from their grid position to fastest laps. For further information on how the Castrol Rankings scores are calculated, click here.
