Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and the rest of Formula One’s elite drivers have descended on Marseille for the French Grand Prix this weekend.

Ahead of Sunday’s race, the first since 2008, we look back at five dramatic moments of the French Grand Prix.

1999

Starting from 14th, Mika Hakkinen produced a masterclass of overtaking and ended up finishing second.

The Finnish driver chased down Rubens Barrichello for the win after passing Jean Alesi, Michael Schumacher and Olivier Panis.

The two-time world champion attempted an overtaking manoeuvre on Barrichello before spinning and falling back to seventh.

He then made back the lost positions by lap 60 and held the lead briefly until pitting along with Barrichello, leaving a clear field for Heinz-Harald Frentzen to clinch the win.

The race concluded with 11 of the 22 drivers who started the race and Frentzen, Hakkinen and Barrichello sealing podium places.

1985

A race full of gearbox failures, with three of the top ten drivers retiring due to various mechanical issues.

Nelson Piquet started from fifth, but overtook four drivers and subsequently held the lead by nearly twenty seconds after 38 laps.

He went on to take his first win of the season, but the battle for second lasted until the final lap when Keke Robserg surged past Alain Prost.

Ayrton Senna, Niki Lauda and Jacques Laffite all suffered mechanical failures during the race and were forced to drop out.

1981

A race of two halves, but one that would end up being the first of Prost’s eventual 51 Grand Prix wins.

In a race that stopped after 58 laps due to heavy rain and then restarted, Watson finished second, while Piquet finished third.

Piquet had been leading up until the restart, but his pace slowed and Prost stormed to a maiden win on home soil.

The Brazilian, meanwhile, went on to clinch the first of his three world titles that year.

1977

Mario Andretti managed a flawless race weekend in France – qualifying on pole position, running the fastest lap during the race and then going on to win it.

But for all his efforts, he did not have a stunning start, with James Hunt, Jacques Laffite and John Watson storming past him with ease.

The American continued to fight back for the rest of the race, and in the final frenetic laps, Watson’s engine slowed and Andretti immediately went past to take his third win of the season.

1990

An extraordinary race for more than one reason.

Starting on pole, Nigel Mansell led with Gerhard Berger and Senna close behind.

Remarkably, Ivan Capelli and Mauricio Gugelmin, who started seventh and tenth respectively, seized control of the lead when opting not to pit for fresh tyres.

Unfortunately, Leyton House’s strategy backfired and Gugelmin was forced to retire on lap 58. Capelli, meanwhile, continued to lead despite pressure from Prost for more than 20 laps, until his own engine started giving problems.

The Italian driver finished second behind Prost, with Senna in third.