Team-by-team analysis of Sunday’s French Formula One Grand Prix at Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet (listed in current championship order):
RED BULL (Max Verstappen 1, Sergio Perez 4)
Verstappen’s seventh win of the season put him 63 points ahead of Leclerc. Red Bull is 82 points ahead of Ferrari. Verstappen started on the front row and made just one stop on lap 16. Leclerc crashed two laps later and handed the lead to him. With 36 laps on hard tires, it then went straight to the finish line. Perez lost third place to Hamilton at the start and was passed by Russell with three laps to go after a brief virtual safety car period.
FERRARI (Carlos Sainz 5, Charles Leclerc retired)
Leclerc was leading from pole and pulling away when he made a mistake on lap 18 and crashed at Le Beausset. It was the third time this season that he retired from the lead. Sainz started 19th due to engine penalties but was tenth after 13 laps. He received a five-second unsafe release penalty when he pitted during the safety car triggered by Leclerc’s crash. He pitted again with eleven laps to go after moving up to third place, earning a point for fastest lap and being voted Driver of the Day.
MERCEDES (Lewis Hamilton 2, George Russell 3)
A first double podium of the season for Mercedes, who took 21 points on Ferrari. Hamilton, now just the sixth driver to start 300 races, passed Perez at the start and moved up to second after Leclerc’s crash. Russell passed Perez with three laps to go after a virtual safety car period. Both drivers opted for a one-stop strategy in the heat.
ALPINE (Fernando Alonso 6, Esteban Ocon 8)
Alpine moved up to fourth ahead of McLaren. Alonso set a Formula One record for most laps completed by a driver at 18,672, scoring for the seventh consecutive race. He passed Norris at the start for fifth. Ocon’s points were his first at a home race, at the third attempt. The Frenchman received a five-second penalty for colliding with Tsunoda on the first lap, which he served on his only pit stop. He passed Ricciardo in eighth place with seven laps to go.
MCLAREN (Lando Norris 7, Daniel Ricciardo 9)
Norris started fifth but fell back and struggled a bit with tire wear and pace. McLaren had brought an upgrade package that gave them a step up, but they were hoping for more. Ricciardo started ninth with both drivers making one stop.
ALFA ROMEO (Valtteri Bottas 14, Guanyu Zhou 16)
Zhou did not finish and retired with a drive unit problem, but was classified. He was also given a five-second penalty for colliding with Schumacher. Bottas got off to a slow start and also had to avoid collisions in front of him. Both ran to the back after the first lap.
HAAS (Mick Schumacher 15, Kevin Magnussen retired)
Magnussen was last on the grid but was 13th at the end of lap one and was the first to pit for a tire change on lap nine. He pitted again during the safety car for another set of hards. Then on lap 38 he collided with Latifi and retired. Schumacher started 17th and pitted on laps 10 and 19. He spun in a collision with Zhou for which the Chinese was blamed.
ALPHATAURI (Pierre Gasly 12, Yuki Tsunoda retired)
Tsunoda was flipped by Ocon early on, racking up a lot of damage and eventually getting eliminated. Gasly lost places trying to pass Albon on lap 28 and lacked grip in the high-speed corners.
ASTON MARTIN (Lance Stroll 10, Sebastian Vettel 11)
Vettel and Stroll fought hard for the final point but the car lacked downforce. Stroll got off to a good start and felt that with more time he might have caught Ricciardo. Aston Martin is now eight points behind AlphaTauri.
WILLIAMS (Alex Albon 13, Nicholas Latifi retired)
Latifi retired after a puncture and a puncture from the Magnussen incident. Albon made a stop and came into the pits during the safety car period.