 The Williams race team was actually at Paul Ricard and Rosberg's car (the team's test car) was tended to by the team's test crew who were given the job by team boss Frank Williams as a reward for their hard work in developing the now flat bottomed Williams FW08C.Lotus used the event as an opportunity to familiarise Nigel Mansell with the Lotus 93T and its turbocharged Renault engine it had so far limited to the team's lead driver Elio de Angelis.Of the thirteen cars, four were turbos including the Ferrari of René Arnoux, although with the Lotus-Renault still new, Brabham without a regular driver and the Spirit-Honda on debut, only Arnoux was rated a chance of victory among the turbos.