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Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has taken home his seventh race win of the season after his Championship rival Charles Leclerc gifted him the race lead. The Ferrari driver made a critical error on lap 19 which saw the Monegasque lose the rear of his Ferrari F1-75 at turn 11.
Opening Laps
Charles Leclerc leads Max Verstappen and the rest of the field into turn one at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of France at Circuit Paul Ricard (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)Grid leaders Leclerc and Verstappen got away well as the lights went out in Le Castellet with the championship contenders pulling away quickly from the rest of the pack. Verstappen chased down Leclerc for the opening laps however he couldn’t overtake the Ferrari due to its quick cornering speed despite having better straight-line speed and DRS.
Hamilton’s magnificent start saw him leap into third at the start of the race and come home in second place, earning himself his fifth podium of the season.
Leclerc loses it
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc let out a blood-curling scream after sticking his Ferrari into the wall at turn 11. Leclerc admitted after the race that it was a driver error that caused him to DNF from the French Grand Prix.
Perez caught napping
Red Bull driver Sergio “Checo” Perez was caught napping after a virtual safety car restart which was caused by Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu. Mercedes’ George Russell lept ahead of the Mexican to bring home third place.
A thrilling final lap saw Perez chasing down Russell in France however he failed to make up the place.
Double points finish for Alpine and McLaren
Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon secured another solid set of points for Alpine in their battle for the best of the rest. Their midfield rivals McLaren were not far behind as Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo also secured a double points finish in the South of France.
Final order
- Max Verstappen
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Sergio Perez
- Carlos Sainz (fastest lap)
- Fernando Alonso
- Lando Norris
- Esteban Ocon
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Lance Stroll
- Sebastian Vettel
- Pierre Gasly
- Alex Albon
- Valtteri Bottas
- Mick Schumacher
DNFs: Charles Leclerc, Zhou Guanyu, Yuki Tsunoda, Kevin Magnussen, Nicolas Latifi
