The French GP saw a big turn in the 18th lap when Charles Leclerc crashed into the wall from the top spot. Max Verstappen significantly increased his World Championship points lead. Valtteri Bottas had a quiet race.
18:13•Updated 18:26
Red Bull Max Verstappen drove to victory in the French GP ahead of Mercedes Lewis Hamilton and another Mercedes driver George Russell. Verstappen’s victory was clear after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc shook from the top spot to the rail fence.
Leclerc dominated and led the race until the 18th lap, until the Monaco drove strangely off the track. The race ended with Leclerc’s disappointed roar on the team radio. Leclerc was initially interpreted as saying on the team radio that the exit was related to a problem with the gas pedal. Two weeks ago in Austria, Leclerc drove to victory, but even then complained about the gas pedal problem at the end of the race.
The suspension was Leclerc’s third of the season. Ferrari’s reliability problems have become a big topic of conversation this season. According to Leclerc, however, the reasons behind the suspension in France were not the car’s reliability. He took the interruption in his stride.
The victory was Verstappen’s seventh of the season. The reigning world champion was able to increase his points lead over Leclerc. 12 races have been run in the F1 season. There are ten races left in the season. Dutchman Verstappen now leads the series with 63 points ahead of Leclerc.
– I had a good start. I put pressure on Charles but it was difficult to follow the car in this heat as the tires overheated. We stayed calm and close to Charles. You never know what will happen. Bad luck for Charles. I hope he is fine, Verstappen said about Sunday’s race.
Leclerc said that at the end of the season, he will count how many points he has lost due to his driving mistakes. Now, according to Leclerc, he has lost 32 points because of his own mistakes. 25 now in France and 7 previously in Imola.
– If at the end of the year we count points and 32 points are exhausted, I know the reason was mine. I didn’t deserve the world championship then. In the second half, I have to learn from these mistakes if I want to be world champion, Leclerc stated.
In the final moments of the competition, the biggest source of excitement was the fight for third place. Mercedes George Russell and Perez was fighting for the last place on the podium. The two even bumped into each other. Russell was hot for the situation, but got to the finish line before Perez.
The air temperature on the Pau Ricard track was over 30 degrees during the race. Second place in the competition with Lewis Hamilton also had a tough race when his drinking bottle didn’t work. Hamilton estimates that he lost three kilos during the race.
– A great result, because we were behind Red Bull and Ferrari all weekend, Hamilton summed up the weekend.
Alfa Romeo Valtteri Bottas the competition was a minor win. The Finn started from the 11th grid, but immediately dropped to 16th place in the opening lap after a weak start. Bottas finished in the same places. On the checkered flag, Bottas was 14th.
– There was no speed today. There wasn’t a clutch problem at the start, but it went off. We have to find out why, Bottas, who started with a new clutch, said in an interview with Viaplay.
According to Bottas, the new clutch was not the reason for the bad start.
– I don’t know if there was a little less grip on the hard tire than I thought. However, I have to look at the situation in retrospect.
The F1 record was also taken from Kimi Räikkö in the competition. Fernando Alonso became the all-time number one in the number of laps, overtaking the Finnish conquistador. The 40-year-old Alonso will probably break another of Räikkönen’s records this season. Räikkönen has driven the most F1 races ever, a total of 349. Alonso is only five races behind Räikkö.
Alonso drove a good race in France on Sunday and was sixth in the final results with his Alpine.
Read more about reverse live coverage of the French F1 race here.