Will Verstappen and Hamilton clash in France? "Nice rivalry building"

In Baku, both title rivals failed to score any points. Max Verstappen was on course for victory for a long time, but with a few laps to go he crashed out with a tyre issue. Lewis Hamilton was also unable to score a single point, as he turned on his 'magic brake' at the restart and therefore had little braking power heading into the first corner.

In France, Mercedes is expected to be back up to speed and able to fight more with Red Bull Racing's car. Eric Boullier expresses his expectation for the title fight. “What we are seeing from the beginning of the season is that we have a nice rivalry between Max and Lewis," explains the Frenchman in an exclusive interview with GPblog.

Fight in Paul-Ricard?

"It’s nice for Formula 1 and for the fans to see that battle on track. I expect them to give each other a hard time again this weekend." From Friday to Sunday the drivers will race at Paul-Ricard for the French Grand Prix, where Boullier is general manager.

The first two Grands Prix at the French circuit, since the circuit was back on the calendar, were not filled with any spectacle and were mainly a parade on Sunday. This year however the field seems to be very close and Boullier expects the small differences to be noticeable in France.

Can the midfield mingle?

"Like we all know, the more battles we see on the track, the more action there will be. This year the racing has been very interesting because you have this fight between Max and Lewis and the midfield teams are getting closer to each other so that looks promising for a very nice race in Paul-Ricard," he said. 

In the past three Grands Prix, eight different drivers from five different teams have been on the podium. This has already caused several surprises, for example in Baku and Monaco none of the Mercedes drivers were on the podium. Boullier is hoping for such a new surprise this weekend.

"Nobody really knows yet. I can only expect. It depends on the development of the teams, but obviously, sometimes some tracks suit some cars more than others so I’m sure that if we had eight different people on the podium, then why not a ninth one in Paul-Ricard," Boullier concluded.