Max Verstappen won the French Grand Prix with a dominant run and made a significant step toward his second Formula One world championship as title rival Charle Leclerc’s hopes were left in tatters as he crashed out from the lead.
The Red Bull driver eased to victory at Paul Ricard from Lewis Hamilton in second and George Russell in third taking the first double podium for Mercedes this season. Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Pérez was fourth, and Carlos Sainz in fifth from 19th on the grid for Ferrari.
Verstappen’s win from second on the grid was unspectacular in a race that was defined by the moment Leclerc made an uncharacteristic error that dealt his championship hopes an enormous blow.
The victory has crucially further extended Verstappen’s lead over Leclerc who is second in the championship to 63 points, with 10 races remaining. Having been 46 points behind Leclerc at the third round in Australia, the turnaround is indicative of just how dominant and consistent Red Bull have been over all but two of the last nine races.
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This is the 27th win of Verstappen’s career, his sixth in the last nine races and seventh this season. He becomes the first driver to win here from below pole position since the race returned to the calendar in 2018.
Leclerc made a clean getaway from pole to hold the lead while Hamilton leapt out of his blocks and jumped Pérez to take third. Leclerc could not drop Verstappen over the opening three laps, the Dutchman sitting within DRS range as the pair dropped, Hamilton by more than five seconds.
On lap six Verstappen was within striking distance looking to use his DRS but Leclerc drove a strong defensive line. Verstappen looked to have slightly superior race pace in a straight line but did not have enough to make the pass. While Hamilton managed a solid one-second advantage over Pérez.
The two title contenders out front were inseparable, matching one another almost identically for pace, until Leclerc managed to eke out almost two seconds on his rival, Verstappen backing off to bide his time and manage his tyres.
The Dutch man duly pitted on lap 16 to take the hard rubber and go for the undercut while Leclerc stayed out, only for disaster to strike two laps later. He overcooked it, lost the rear and spun out into the wall at turn 11 and admitted it had been his fault.
“A mistake, a mistake,” he said. “I’ve been saying I think I’m performing at my highest level in my career but if I keep doing those mistakes then it’s pointless to perform at a very high level. I’m losing too many points. It’s unacceptable, I just need to get on top of those things.”
It was a bitter blow and he let out a scream of rage and frustration before emerging unhurt from his car.
With the safety car called, Hamilton pitted for a free stop and emerged in second behind Verstappen when racing resumed on lap 21. The Mercedes looked better in race pace than it had in qualifying, as has been the case before this season but not enough to challenge Verstappen who opened a three-second gap. While Leclerc’s accident had robbed the race of much of its dramatic tension, Hamilton was at least doing his best to stay with the leader.
Sainz made it as high as third, including a marvellous battle where he came out on top against Pérez but had already been given a five-second penalty for an unsafe release during a pit stop. He duly took the penalty at his final stop.
Russell too enjoyed a feisty battle with Pérez, and the pair clashed on lap 43, both convinced they had been in the right but it appeared to be a racing incident and the stewards deemed it as such. The British driver pounced at turn 14 after a late virtual safety car restart however to opportunistically take the final podium place.
Out front it was clear running for Verstappen who coasted to another win, taking the flag more than 10 seconds clear of Hamilton. Mercedes stuck to their task to the flag but Leclerc was left once more licking his wounds and considering the mountain he has left to climb.
Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon were sixth and eighth for Alpine, Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo seventh and ninth for McLaren with Lance Stroll in 10th for Aston Martin. — Guardian
