Fourteen drivers start the Grand Prix at Paul Ricard with a fresh gearbox in the back of the car. This includes Perez, Verstappen and also Hamilton. Valtteri Bottas, unlike his teammate, will not start with a new gearbox. This is because he already had to change his earlier in the season after the crash at Imola with George Russell.

After every six Grand Prix that a driver gets through without changing a gearbox, he will be allowed to do so without getting penalised. As the 2021 French GP is the seventh Grand Prix of the 2021 season, several drivers can use a new gearbox.