Why this team effort?

Christian Estrosi: I am not as experienced as Pierre by a long shot. He’s a great ambassador of motorsport in our country and I am grateful for his advice. With the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the French Grand Prix within a week of each other, I know some people relished the idea of us quarrelling. On the contrary, France is the home of the automotive industry and proud to be a nation of motorsports fans. By joining forces, we emphasise the importance of motorsports in this country and around the world.

Pierre Fillon: I agree entirely with Christian and I’d like to congratulate him on bringing the Formula One Grand Prix back to France. This country has long been a major player in motorsports, producing many great drivers and home to world-class manufacturers. We’ll be making the most of these two weekends to show that French motorsports are in fine fettle, that the fan base is tremendous, and that automotive industry is important to France and its economy.

Having the two events so close together could have been a hindrance. Have you turned it to your advantage?

Pierre Fillon: The two races are very different yet, as Fernando Alonso has just proved by winning Le Mans, we have a lot in common, we just need to build bridges. There’s strength in numbers, as they say?

Christian Estrosi: Considering the attendance at Le Mans again this year, the fact that we’re at 90% of our 65,000-person capacity for the Grand Prix de France and that 3.4 million viewers tuned in to the Monaco Grand Prix, I think we can safely say that there’s a real appetite for motorsports in this country. Maybe some don’t want to say so because of certain lobbies, but the truth is that the defence and promotion of motorsport is something that many people support because they know that France has a prominent place on the world stage.

Do you share many viewpoints?

Christian Estrosi: Pierre has been in motorsports for a long time. I haven’t. At one point in my political career, I crossed paths with Bernie Ecclestone and l also got to know Cyril Abiteboul, managing director of Renault Sport Racing and Eric Boullier, racing director of McLaren Racing. Once things were in motion, I got in touch with Pierre because I needed his advice and his help in understanding the workings in this field. Apart from the 24 Hours of Le Mans France hadn’t hosted a major motorsport event for a long time, so it seemed logical to talk to him.

Will you be building on this united front in the future?

Christian Estrosi: There’s no doubt room for that, but it’s early days yet. We’ll be meeting after the Grand Prix de France to discuss both events and see where we go from here.

Pierre Fillon: I would just add that we’ll have a lot to say to each other because we’ll each have learned so much that it can only be mutually beneficial. We’ll be swapping ideas to improve the set-up for both events.

Photo: Christian Estrosi at the Paul Ricard Circuit in Le Castellet.