Hamilton wins the French GP, confusion at the start

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) enjoyed his Sunday walk on the Paul-Ricard circuit (Var). A day after “simple” qualifications, the Briton also led a race without the slightest problempine. Here he is, the new leader of the Drivers' Championship this Sunday evening after the French Grand Prix.

The uncertainty of the race took a big hit at the start. The leader of the Team Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel, went astray when braking. The German hit Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) at first braking. Broken front wing, car red thus went to the pits to repair. Starting 17th, Sebastian Vettel was then penalized five seconds by the race direction.

This did not prevent him from getting back to the foot of the podium, behind his teammate Kimi Räikkönen (3rd) and Max Verstappen (Red Bull). For Valtteri Bottas, the event was less clear, since he only finished seventh.

At home, the stable Renault was on track to finish “best of the rest”, behind the three leading teams. Carlos Sainz Jr was playing in sixth place when a loss of power was felt behind his back. The Spaniard could do nothing against Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and Valtteri Bottas, who overtook him three laps from the end. Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) finished eighth.

The race quickly ended for Esteban Ocon (Force India) and Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso). Perhaps due to domestic pressure, the two Frenchmen collided in the first round. “I’m super disappointed, I tried to perform as best as possible. I think Esteban didn’t see me, he took his trajectory as if he were alone, I couldn’t do anything”, complained Pierre Gasly.

A sixth time, Charles Leclerc (Sauber) manages to register one unit thanks to 10th position. Romain Grosjean (Haas) misses the points again with 11th place just like the two Williams and McLaren. Lance stroll (Williams) burst his left front tire in the Signes curve, fortunately without hitting the rails.

>>>Find the analysis of the French GP F1 in issue 2171 of AUTOhebdo, on sale Monday evening in digital version and Wednesday on newsstands.<<<