The French Grand Prix will return to the Formula 1 calendar in 2018, it was announced this afternoon.

After a 10-year absence from the schedule, the race will now be held in the south of France at the Circuit Paul Ricard, where it was last staged in 1990. The French Grand Prix was last held at Magny-Cours in central France in 2008.

Christian Estrosi, the president of the regional authority of Provence and the Cote d'Azur, announced the deal in Paris on Monday.

Le Castellet - the circuit on which the race will take place - is owned by the family trust of Bernie Ecclestone, but he told Reuters the promoters were renting the track from it. He added that the race was likely to take place at the end of July.