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.

After Elio de Angelis's fatal testing crash in a Brabham BT55 with BMW Turbo engine on the full 5.81-kilometre circuit two months previously, a decision was made to use the shorter, 3.812-kilometre "Club" circuit for this race and for future F1 races. This eliminated the high-speed Verrerie bends, where de Angelis had crashed, and reduced the length of the Mistral straight from 1.8 km to 1 km. Nonetheless, the cars still recorded speeds of over 330 km/h on the straight while discussions about an end of the turbo era were going on. BMW announced their withdrawal as engine supplier, which affected Brabham, too. 

The 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.