The French Grand Prix will return to the Formula One calendar in 2018 following a 10-year absence from the sport.
The news of the new five-year deal was confirmed during a press conference in Paris at the headquarters of the Automobile Club de France. The race will be held at the Circuit Paul Ricard in the south of France, which hosted the race on 14 occasions between 1971 and 1990, and financially supported by the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, the city of Toulon, the Var departement and the French motorsport federation.
The Paul Ricard circuit was bought by a company owned by Bernie Ecclestone's family trust in 1999, but the organisers of the race are believed to be renting the track from it. The track has mainly been used as a testing venue in recent years and hosted two of this year's 2017 tyre tests in September.
Although the race is not directly replacing another event on the calendar, the German Grand Prix will not take place next year after it was not named on the final draft of the 2017 calendar last week. The Malaysian Grand Prix is also set to drop off the calendar after 2018 and the future of the Brazilian Grand Prix has been in doubt this year.
The last French Grand Prix took place at Magny Cours in 2008, but fell off the calendar despite the country's historical significance in motorsport.