Castellet, July 7th
With the Grand Prix season around its half-way point everything looked to be set fair as the Formula One teams assembled at the Circuit Paul Ricard, on the arid plain above the Mediterranean seaside resorts of Bandol and La Ciotat. The Honda engine men were happy with the progress that their revised V6 had made in the North American races, Ferrari was as strong as ever, Lotus was revelling in its new-found enthusiasm, sparked off by the arrival of Ayrton Senna in the team, McLaren, while not dominant like last year, was never far from the front, and Renault was entering on a new phase with a brand new car. Brabham and BMW were just being their philosophical selves, hoping that one day Pirelli could match Goodyear on the tyre front, or at the least that Goodyear would stumble and let the Italian tyre giant catch up.
Renault mechanics work on Derek Warwick’s car
