F1 to consider axing Mistral chicane - Whiting

Charlie Whiting says F1 will consider removing the unpopular chicane from the middle of Paul Ricard’s iconic Mistral straight for 2019.

The topic was brought up by the drivers in the pre-race briefing, with others including Toto Wolff agreeing that the chicane spoiled the long straight and right-hand bend at the end of it.

"Everyone would talk about the straight and the corner at the end, just like everyone talks about other sections in the world," said Carlos Sainz.

"It would give it a touch of character that maybe it doesn’t have at the moment."

Whiting, the FIA race director, said using the chicane for Paul Ricard’s return to the F1 calendar was a decision made jointly by the circuit and the Federation.

"In my opinion everything worked well," he said.

"There are some who think we shouldn’t have it, but the teams and drivers knew about it long before the grand prix. So I was surprised when on Friday it was suddenly an issue."

Whiting promised, however, that the issue of the Mistral chicane will be reviewed ahead of the 2019 race.

"We can do a simulation to check it but I would also like to hear the opinions of the drivers again, because we saw a lot of good overtaking during the race and we might not have seen it without that chicane," he said.