Situated in central France, Magny-Cours is one of the smoothest circuits in Formula One, with many slow turns and hairpins. Many fans find the track a little hard to get excited about, while few drivers see the circuit as a 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 (Champ Car) 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 in his Benetton, 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, Schumacher raced the Ferrari home once again, with Heinz-Harald Frentzen coming home 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. Schumacher won his eighth French Grand Prix in 2006 from the Pole, leading home championship rival Alonso by ten seconds while Felipe Massa took the final podium position in the second Ferrari.

Kimi Raikkonen recorded his second win of the 2007 season in France as he made best use of his two-stop strategy to vault ahead of Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa in the final round of pit stops. Lewis Hamilton finished third in his McLaren as Alonso battled back from tenth position on the grid to finish seventh.

Magny Cours remains on the calendar for 2008 but this is likely to be final French Grand Prix event at this circuit.