The 1986 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on 6 July 1986. It was the eighth race of the 1986 Formula One World Championship.
Following Elio de Angelis's fatal testing crash on the full circuit two months previously, a decision was made to use the shorter, "Club" circuit for this race and for future F1 races (up to and including 1990). This eliminated the high-speed Verrerie bends, where de Angelis had crashed, and reduced the length of the Mistral straight from to . Nonetheless, the cars still recorded speeds of over on the straight.
The 80-lap race was won by Nigel Mansell, driving a Williams-Honda. It was Mansell's third victory of the season. Alain Prost finished second in a McLaren-TAG, with Nelson Piquet third in the other Williams-Honda. Ayrton Senna took pole position in his Lotus-Renault, but crashed at Signes early in the race after sliding on oil laid by Andrea de Cesaris's failed Minardi.
This race marked Scuderia Ferrari's 400th start in a World Championship event as a team.
Classification
Qualifying
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos !! No !! Driver !! Constructor !! Q1 !! Q2 !! Gap
|-
! 1
| 12
| Ayrton Senna
| Lotus-Renault
| 1:06.526
| 1:06.807
|
|-
! 2
| 5
| Nigel Mansell
| Williams-Honda
| 1:06.755
| 1:09.899
| +0.229
|-
! 3
| 6
| Nelson Piquet
| Williams-Honda
| 1:06.797
| 1:07.184
| +0.271
|-
! 4
| 25
| René Arnoux
| Ligier-Renault
| 1:07.114
| 1:07.075
| +0.549
|-
! 5
| 1
| Alain Prost
| McLaren-TAG
| 1:07.270
| 1:07.266
| +0.740
|-
! 6
| 27
| Michele Alboreto
| Ferrari
| 1:07.365
| 1:09.161
| +0.839
|-
! 7
| 2
| Keke Rosberg
| McLaren-TAG
| 1:07.545
| 1:08.175
| +1.019
|-
! 8
| 20
| Gerhard Berger
| Benetton-BMW
| 1:07.835
| 1:07.554
| +1.028
|-
! 9
| 19
| Teo Fabi
| Benetton-BMW
| 1:08.703
| 1:07.818
| +1.292
|-
! 10
| 28
| Stefan Johansson
| Ferrari
| 1:07.874
| 1:08.881
| +1.348
|-
! 11
| 26
| Jacques Laffite
| Ligier-Renault
| 1:07.913
| 1:08.288
| +1.387
|-
! 12
| 11
| Johnny Dumfries
| Lotus-Renault
| 1:09.477
| 1:08.544
| +2.018
|-
! 13
| 16
| Patrick Tambay
| Lola-Ford
| 1:09.108
| 1:08.616
| +2.090
|-
! 14
| 8
| Derek Warwick
| Brabham-BMW
| 1:09.471
| 1:08.905
| +2.379
|-
! 15
| 3
| Martin Brundle
| Tyrrell-Renault
| 1:09.044
| 1:10.293
| +2.518
|-
! 16
| 7
| Riccardo Patrese
| Brabham-BMW
| 1:09.624
| 1:09.436
| +2.910
|-
! 17
| 4
| Philippe Streiff
| Tyrrell-Renault
| 1:09.935
| 1:09.700
| +3.174
|-
! 18
| 17
| Christian Danner
| Arrows-BMW
| 1:09.737
| 1:10.614
| +3.211
|-
! 19
| 24
| Alessandro Nannini
| Minardi-Motori Moderni
| 1:09.792
| 1:10.630
| +3.266
|-
! 20
| 15
| Alan Jones
| Lola-Ford
| 1:09.929
| 1:10.733
| +3.403
|-
! 21
| 18
| Thierry Boutsen
| Arrows-BMW
| 1:09.987
| 1:28.882
| +3.461
|-
! 22
| 14
| Jonathan Palmer
| Zakspeed
| 1:10.305
| 1:10.511
| +3.779
|-
! 23
| 23
| Andrea de Cesaris
| Minardi-Motori Moderni
| 1:11.483
| 1:21.859
| +4.957
|-
! 24
| 29
| Huub Rothengatter
| Zakspeed
| 1:12.940
| 1:12.163
| +5.637
|-
! 25
| 21
| Piercarlo Ghinzani
| Osella-Alfa Romeo
| 1:14.496
| 1:12.443
| +5.917
|-
! 26
| 22
| Allen Berg
| Osella-Alfa Romeo
| 1:18.866
| 1:14.264
| +7.738
|}
Race
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos !! No !! Driver !! Constructor !! Laps !! Time/Retired !! Grid !! Points
|-
! 1
| 5
| Nigel Mansell
| Williams-Honda
| 80
| 1:37:19.272
| 2
| 9
|-
! 2
| 1
| Alain Prost
| McLaren-TAG
| 80
| + 17.128
| 5
| 6
|-
! 3
| 6
| Nelson Piquet
| Williams-Honda
| 80
| + 37.545
| 3
| 4
|-
! 4
| 2
| Keke Rosberg
| McLaren-TAG
| 80
| + 48.703
| 7
| 3
|-
! 5
| 25
| René Arnoux
| Ligier-Renault
| 79
| + 1 Lap
| 4
| 2
|-
! 6
| 26
| Jacques Laffite
| Ligier-Renault
| 79
| + 1 Lap
| 11
| 1
|-
! 7
| 7
| Riccardo Patrese
| Brabham-BMW
| 78
| + 2 Laps
| 16
|
|-
! 8
| 27
| Michele Alboreto
| Ferrari
| 78
| + 2 Laps
| 6
|
|-
! 9
| 8
| Derek Warwick
| Brabham-BMW
| 77
| + 3 Laps
| 14
|
|-
! 10
| 3
| Martin Brundle
| Tyrrell-Renault
| 77
| + 3 Laps
| 15
|
|-
! 11
| 17
| Christian Danner
| Arrows-BMW
| 76
| + 4 Laps
| 18
|
|-
!
| 18
| Thierry Boutsen
| Arrows-BMW
| 67
| + 13 Laps
| 21
|
|-
!
| 16
| Patrick Tambay
| Lola-Ford
| 64
| Brakes
| 13
|
|-
!
| 11
| Johnny Dumfries
| Lotus-Renault
| 56
| Engine
| 12
|
|-
!
| 14
| Jonathan Palmer
| Zakspeed
| 46
| Engine
| 22
|
|-
!
| 4
| Philippe Streiff
| Tyrrell-Renault
| 43
| Fire
| 17
|
|-
!
| 29
| Huub Rothengatter
| Zakspeed
| 32
| Accident
| 24
|
|-
!
| 22
| Allen Berg
| Osella-Alfa Romeo
| 25
| Turbo
| 26
|
|-
!
| 20
| Gerhard Berger
| Benetton-BMW
| 22
| Gearbox
| 8
|
|-
!
| 19
| Teo Fabi
| Benetton-BMW
| 7
| Engine
| 9
|
|-
!
| 28
| Stefan Johansson
| Ferrari
| 5
| Turbo
| 10
|
|-
!
| 12
| Ayrton Senna
| Lotus-Renault
| 3
| Accident
| 1
|
|-
!
| 21
| Piercarlo Ghinzani
| Osella-Alfa Romeo
| 3
| Accident
| 25
|
|-
!
| 24
| Alessandro Nannini
| Minardi-Motori Moderni
| 3
| Accident
| 19
|
|-
!
| 23
| Andrea de Cesaris
| Minardi-Motori Moderni
| 3
| Turbo
| 23
|
|-
!
| 15
| Alan Jones
| Lola-Ford
| 2
| Accident
| 20
|
|-
!colspan="8"|
|}
Championship standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos
! Driver
! Points
|-
| 1
| Alain Prost
|align="right"| 39
|-
| 2
| Nigel Mansell
|align="right"| 38
|-
| 3
| Ayrton Senna
|align="right"| 36
|-
| 4
| Nelson Piquet
|align="right"| 23
|-
| 5
| Keke Rosberg
|align="right"| 17
|-
!colspan=4|Source:
|}
;Constructors' Championship standings
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
|-
! Pos
! Constructor
! Points
|-
| 1
| Williams-Honda
|align="right"| 61
|-
| 2
| McLaren-TAG
|align="right"| 56
|-
| 3
| Lotus-Renault
|align="right"| 36
|-
| 4
| Ligier-Renault
|align="right"| 22
|-
| 5
| Ferrari
|align="right"| 13
|-
!colspan=4|Source: