Lewis Hamilton can expect a welcome boost in engine power this weekend as Formula One embarks on an unprecedented triple-header at a French Grand Prix returning to the calendar after a decade's absence.
Le Castellet's Paul Ricard circuit last hosted a F1 race in 1990, before 10 of the current 22 drivers were born. It has been reconfigured from the one fondly remembered by older generations.
France's most-recent GP was in 2008 at Magny-Cours - the year Hamilton won his first world championship with McLaren. It remains a rare country that has yet to see the Mercedes driver triumph.
If the four-time world champion does on Sunday, he will take another record from retired great Michael Schumacher for the most wins at different GPs.
The pair are tied on 22, although Hamilton already holds the record for different tracks (25) after winning this year in Azerbaijan.
Hamilton is one point behind Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel after seven races, the German taking the lead in Canada two weekends ago with his 50th career win.
Ferrari and other rivals had an engine upgrade for that race and Mercedes did not.
Reigning champions Mercedes had delayed their planned upgrade due to a 'quality issue' - a problem that also affected customer teams Williams and Force India.
That should change this weekend, with Mercedes planning on making the change and Hamilton determined to hit back hard in the first of three races on successive weekends.
"I'm really going to make sure that we come back strong at the next race," Hamilton said after Canada.
The France-Austria-Britain sequence of races poses a fresh logistical challenge for teams previously committed only to back-to-back weekends, with the 21-round season hurrying to the halfway point.
The three-in-a-row format was scheduled specifically to avoid a clash with the July 15 World Cup soccer final in Russia.
"France should be an interesting race. We don't often get to race on a track where we have little to no historical data," said team boss Toto Wolff.
"It makes preparing for the weekend a bit trickier than usual, but that element of the unknown also adds to the challenge.
"The triple header ... will test all F1 teams to their limits, but also offers the chance to score a lot of points over the course of three weeks - which is precisely what we're setting out to do."
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