THE original French Grand Prix was held at the circuit Reims-Gueux, a track made up of rural public roads in Gueux, five miles west of Reims in the Champagne region.

What remains now is just the home-straight, sat in the middle of a rural field, alongside some remarkably restored buildings from the original racetrack.

Legendary drivers such as Graham Hill and Jack Brabham raced here in the late 50s and early 60s, but unfortunately regulatory red-tape caught up with the racetrack and the owners could not afford to bring it up to the new standards.

The 1966 race was the last time it hosted Formula 1 and the track was closed down completely in 1972.

From there the racetrack and stands fell into heavy disrepair over the course of 30 years and it would have been hardly recognisable from its heyday.

But fortunately a local group stepped in to save and restore what was left of the ageing track.

They are called The Friends of the Circuit of Gueux and not only did they save the buildings from demolition but they also have painstakingly restored them to their former glory.

Incredibly the track is still mostly public roads and it is nearly possible to drive the entire five-mile course.

Underneath the course is a tiny tunnel only just wide enough for two people which served as a pedestrian underpass to the racetrack. The passageway is so small that it is damn right dangerous as YouTuber The Tim Traveller pointed out.

“This is a good example of why the whole place needed to be upgraded or shut down. It wasn’t just the track that was dangerous, you don’t need me to tell you why sending crowds of excited people through a tunnel barely wide enough for two isn’t the best idea.”

In fact the entirety of F1 in those days was a health and safety nightmare, as pointed out by a commentor.

“Fun fact about racing back in those days: Safety didn’t exist. Seatbelts were not mandatory for the first decade or two of F1. The cars were basically just a drivetrain, aka engine, gearbox and so on, a fuel tank, some wheels and some metal sheets. Crash protection didn’t exist on the car, and hay bales were deemed acceptable as such on the circuits.”

Visiting the track is completely free. You aren’t able to enter all of the buildings as some are deemed unsafe and they weren’t built with accessibility in mind but what you can see from street level it is well worth the trip alone.

But obviously you wouldn’t want to tear around it in your own car, pretending to be Graham Hill.

That would just be dangerous.