Max Verstappen won at the Paul Ricard circuit despite pole position rival Charles Leclerc.
On the seventeenth lap, the Ferrari team warned Leclerc that he was overheating his tires. Just a lap later, the rear tires lost grip and the Monegasque spun into the barricade in what appeared to be driver error.
A breathless Leclerc was later heard on the stable radio shouting out his frustration.
Behind Verstappen, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton seized the opportunity and improved on his three consecutive third places with a second place.
Four consecutive podiums for Hamilton shows an upward trend in the bouncy Mercedes car. Teammate George Russell grabbed third place with just two laps to go ahead of Mexican Sergio Perez, Red Bull.
Ferrari’s second driver Carlos Sainz was responsible for an impressive pick-up. After an engine change, the Spaniard had to start from the last row but drove all the way up to fifth place.
The French GP was Hamilton’s 300th grand prix. The Brit becomes only the sixth driver ever to achieve that feat. 103 wins and 187 podiums are his results.
In addition to Leclerc, four other drivers had to break the race.