LEWIS HAMILTON is a lot closer to where he will feel he belongs after a second placed finish with Mercedes at the French Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen took the chequered flag after his title rival Charles Leclerc span off the track at 100mph.
And fellow British Mercedes driver George Russell will be just as happy with his race after overtaking Sergio Perez late on to secure the final podium place.
Following the Grand Prix, Hamilton said on the team radio: “Great result for the team! Just shows all the hard work we’ve been doing.”
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What a ride
Another cracking Formula One race.
Let’s take a look at today’s Top 10…
Heartbreak for Leclerc
This was the dramatic moment that ended Leclerc’s race and put yet another huge dent into his title ambitions.
Best of the rest
So amid the drama, Ocon managed to pass Ricciardo as Alpine and McLaren fought for the lower points positions.
Stroll took the final point as he managed to fend off his teammate on the final lap while Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo and Haas have all had fairly dreadful days.
Charles Leclerc speaks
Charles Leclerc has spoken to Sky Sports F1 after his dramatic crash in the French Grand Prix, and has laid the blame on his own door.
He said: “[It was my] mistake. As I’ve been saying, I think I’ve been performing at the highest level of my career but it is pointless if you make those mistakes.
“So yeah if we lose the Championship by 32 points [the amount of points the driver believes he has lost the team] at the end of the season then it will be unacceptable and I need to get on top of those things.
“I go through the same process all the time. To me it was a mistake and that’s it but I will go through the data.
“I lost the rear. It’s been a very hard weekend for me, I struggled with the balance of the car and I did a mistake at the wrong moment.”
The Podium
Verstappen stands on the top step of the podium as the drivers prepare to spray each other with champagne.
Hamilton probably just wants to have a lie down, though…
Down and Out
In the cool-down room, Hamilton is lying on his back on the floor in exhaustion.
The seven times World Champion has revealed his drinking machinery in the car did not work during the race, so his tiredness is understandable.
He, Russell and Verstappen are chatting off-mic while they wait for the podium celebrations.
Hamilton on his second place
“I have to give it up to the big crowd in France, I think this is the biggest crowd we’ve had here.
“That was a tough race as my drink bottle didn’t work. Big congrats to the team back at the factories and George [Russell] did an amazing work today as well.
“I would imagine I would have lost around three kilos [without being able to hydrate myself during the race].
“I love it in Budapest and hopefully in that race we’ll be even closer.”
Another dominant win
Verstappen is back in the winning groove and had a 10 second gap to second-pace by the time he crossed the line.
As proved by Leclerc crashing out from the lead, it is not easy to keep up a good pace and concentration, especially in such hot conditions. Great performance from Max.
What a race!
This race had a little bit of everything, including racing right up to the line as the two Aston Martins scrapped for p10.
In his desperation to pass Stroll, it looked like Vettel may have even touched the back of his teammate’s car. But they both get over the line after some brilliant racing.
Mercedes double podium
Hamilton comes 2nd on his 300th Grand Prix while Russell holds off Perez to claim third. It’s Mercedes first double podium finish of the season.
MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS THE FRENCH GRAND PRIX!
After Leclerc crashed out, it was straightforward for the Dutchman
Lap 52/53
Perez is desperate to retake that place back off Russell after that strange overtake.
We could have two laps of epic racing here between these two.
Lap 50/53
The Virtual Safety Car has ended and we are back underway here.
And within seconds Russell has past Perez! The Red Bull driver must have been sleeping. Russell is two laps away from a podium!
Zhou has stopped
The Alfa Romeo driver has pulled up on lap 50 out of 53, and we have a virtual safety car. That car will be cleared very quickly and the VSC will neutralise the race.
That’s Zhou’s fifth retirement of the season, the most of any driver.
Lap 49/53
Russell is still right on the back of Sergio Perez as he tries to hunt down 3rd and a podium. Mercedes are looking for their first double podium finish of the season.
Meanwhile Sainz is back up to 5th after pitting as he got through Alonso. But he’s 20 seconds behind Russell and will now certainly finish p5.
Meanwhile at Ferrari
The post-race chat will be dominated by another Ferrari inquest after a dreadful day at the office for the Italian team.
Leclerc crashed out in lap 18 and has just admitted to Sky Sports F1 that the crash was a mistake, and not an issue with the car. He is blaming himself.
Meanwhile there is a lot of confusion as to why Carlos Sainz has fought past Perez for p3 and then was told by the team to pit, putting him in p9 (he’s now up to p6).
Ferrari’s strategy has been regularly criticised this season and there are more questions to answer today.
Lap 45/53
We’ve just had a great few laps in what has been a surprisingly brilliant French Grand Prix.
Russell is furious about the way Perez rejoined the track after Russell went into him, and team boss Toto Wolff had to come onto team radio to tell the British driver to put his head down.
Perez’s tyres look cooked, so we have a proper fight for the podium here.
Verstappen is cruising to victory meanwhile with a 9 second lead over Hamilton.
Lap 44/53
Unbelievable scenes. Sainz, after passing Perez, has now pitted! What are Ferrari doing? Perhaps his tyres were giving up the ghost, but it appears more confusion on the Ferrari pitwall. Sainz also had to serve his five second penalty.
Russell is less than a second behind Perez and those two have a podium to battle over now Sainz is out of the way. The Ferrari has come out p9.
Lap 42/53
Epic between Sainz and Perez! Sainz is past the Red Bull after an amazing scrap. And then George Russell misjudges a move and makes contact with Perez! Wow
Magnussen retires
The contact between Magnussen and Latifi has ended the Haas’ race.
He is the third retiree after Tsunoda and Leclerc.
Lap 40/53
So Verstappen has a seven second lead on Hamilton.
Perez, in third, has a 2.6 second lead on Sainz in the fight for the podium. The Ferrari driver has to get past and then build a five second lead as he has a penalty.
At the other end of the grid, Kevin Magnussen has clashed with Nicolas Latifi and both have headed into the pits seemingly to repair damage.
It’s the second time today a Haas has been in the wars, after Schumacher was hit by Zhou earlier.
Team Radio
“Is anyone else having deg[redation on the tyres]?” asks Lewis Hamilton to his race engineers.
It appears to be something that all the drivers are struggling with, after the safety car ruined the chance of two-stop. Everyone looks set to go till the end on worn out tyres.
Meanwhile at Aston Martin, Lance Stroll angrily demands his race engineer leaves him alone after one of the men in the garage tried to chip in with advice.
The Canadian is running 10th, and could pick up his fourth points finish of the season in what is a poor car.
Alpine v McLaren
We have Alonso sixth, the two McLarens of Norris and Ricciardo in p7 and p8, and the other Alpine of Esteban Ocon in p9.
Alonso appears to have backed the orange cars into his teammate, and there is now a four way scrap underway with Ricciardo under immediate pressure from Ocon on Lap 36
The tyre dilemma
The safety car has thrown off everyone’s strategy, and means that any pre-race plans for one-stops or two-stops went out the window as everyone pitted after Leclerc’s crash.
The problem is now whether it is worth going to a second stop, with the drivers all seeing their tyres wear out on the hot French track.
Who will be bold enough to risk a second stop to try and make up track positions?
Lap 32/53
Hamilton could be in some trouble. The Brit went off the track at turn 2 but managed to rejoin quickly after. The incident has now seen him fall 5.8 behind Verstappen, with Perez now only 1.3 seconds behind him.
Red Bull will be targeting the 1-2.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
