F1 French GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race day | Live text

By: Jake Boxall-Legge, Haydn Cobb, Tom Howard

Summary


	Chequered flag - Verstappen wins the French GP after an inspired two stop strategy. Hamilton second and Perez third. Verstappen reels in and passes Hamilton on the penultimate lap to grab the lead. Red Bull blink and bring leader Verstappen in for a second stop. Lap 33/53 - Hamilton leads Bottas. Verstappen jumps Hamilton courtesy of a slick undercut from the Red Bull driver after the first round of pit stops. Hamilton grabs the lead on Lap 1 after Verstappen runs wide at Turn 1. Formula 1's French GP will get underway at 1500 local time (1400 BST) Verstappen starts on pole from Hamilton, Bottas and Perez on row 2
	Leaderboard Verstappen, Red Bull Hamilton, Mercedes Perez, Red Bull Bottas, Mercedes Norris, McLaren Ricciardo, McLaren Gasly, AlphaTauri Alonso, Alpine Vettel, Aston Martin Stroll, Aston Martin

Status: Stopped

17:49 And we'll leave it there! We'll see you next week for the Styrian GP at the Red Bull Ring - take care!

17:47 Here's the report from a surprisingly interesting French Grand Prix: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/french-gp-verstappen-passes-hamilton-to-win-after-start-error/6590000/

17:43 Perez: "The first five to 10 laps, the car was pretty much undriveable with the wind. But as the wind was getting calmer and the track was getting better, I could pick up my rhythm."

17:42 Hamilton: "Congrats to Max, they just had the better power on the straights all weekend. I just had no tyres left at the end so lost the position - but it was a good race."

17:40 Verstappen: "In the beginning, it was super difficult out there with the wind. We did well to keep the car stable. When we made the call to do the two-stopper, it paid off - but we were made to work hard for it."

17:37 "This one's on us," James Vowles says on the radio, willing to accept blame for the strategy.

17:36 George Russell's 12th place brings Williams back ahead of Haas in the constructors' standings.

17:33 Norris and Ricciardo get a big haul of points for McLaren, claiming fifth and sixth, ahead of Gasly and Alonso, as Vettel and Stroll complete the top 10.

17:32 Hamilton has to settle for second - as Perez and Bottas complete the top four, as an incident between the two has been noted.

17:32 And that's job done for Max Verstappen, who wins the French Grand Prix!

17:31 Verstappen's now released and able to scamper down the road. "Simply lovely," says race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.

17:30 Verstappen, stalking Hamilton through the first sector, grabs DRS and dives down the inside at the Mistral chicane to lead!

17:28

With three laps to go a Ricciardo-Gasly-Alonso train is forming so the action is building up everywhere. Further back, Russell gets ahead of Tsunoda to take 12th place.

17:28 It's 1.6s with three laps to go. Hamilton vs. Verstappen - who can do it?

17:26 Perez now claims P3 from Bottas, steaming around the Mercedes at Signes. Bottas is still pressing, however, and doesn't escape to the pits just yet.

17:24

Stroll is up into the points having got by Sainz for P10. A double points haul for Aston Martin is on the cards.

17:25 Pete Bonnington gets the "leave me to it," as Hamilton throws everything at trying to keep Verstappen at bay. The gap is now 2.5s.

17:24 Hamilton's now starting to lose time to Verstappen, having had an off on the previous lap. Bottas, meanwhile, is trying to defend from Perez.

17:23 Instead of worrying about Vettel, Alonso is right on the rear wing of Gasly in the fight for seventh place and is within DRS range.

17:23 The Finnish driver doesn't pit, however, so perhaps they feel they can hold Perez off.

17:22 Bottas is being primed for a pitstop, which I'm sure will go down well. He's, quoth the late, great Murray Walker, ab-so-lutely FURIOUS.

17:21 Hamilton is matching Verstappen for pace at the moment, somehow having managed to find some more life in those tyres.

17:20 "Why the f**k did nobody listen to me when I said it was a two-stopper?", Bottas says, somewhat unhappily.

17:19

Vettel is up to ninth place having overtaken Sainz, but he now has around eight seconds to find to catch Alonso ahead of him with seven laps to go.

17:19 Hamilton managed to go faster on that lap compared to Verstappen, so earns himself a stay of execution for a bit longer.

17:18 Bottas seemingly defends into the Mistral chicane, but goes a bit deep and allows the Red Bull to join him side-by-side into Signes. Verstappen is now free to chase Hamilton.

17:16 Verstappen's right on Bottas' tail now - he's going to have to defend hard.

17:15

The Aston Martin strategy is coming alive, as expected, as Stroll moves up to P11 ahead of Tsunoda to slot in directly behind team-mate Vettel. Both drivers are around one second per lap faster than those ahead.

17:13 "The tyres aren't feeling great," Hamilton reports. Bottas is also struggling - reporting that he has no fronts.

17:12 The overtaking forecast says seven laps for Hamilton vs Verstappen - so Bottas is going to have to provide a rearguard masterclass to keep his team-mate safe.

17:10

Leclerc becomes the second driver to go for the two-stop strategy (after Verstappen) and drops down to P16 as a result.

17:10 Mercedes having to conduct a quick radio switch, as Hamilton can't hear engineer Pete Bonnington. Verstappen's also having radio issues.

17:08

A lap later Alonso finds overtaking Sainz much easier than Gasly did, as he charges by under braking at Turn 1 for P8. This race isn't going to plan for either Ferrari drivers, it must be said.

17:08 Hamilton's picked up the pace, just 0.8s slower that lap with the re-tyred Verstappen.

17:07 Vettel finally pits from fifth, elevating Norris and Ricciardo into fifth and sixth. The Aston comes out in P11.

17:06 Gasly had been struggling to find a way past Sainz after a handful of half-moves, but he gets ahead at Turn 8 to take P8 on lap 36. But that time lost has allowed both Norris and Ricciardo to escape up the road.

17:03 Stroll comes back out in P14 on fresh mediums, so he'll be one to watch over the final stint of this race.

17:04 Verstappen is now able to cruise past Perez, who gets out the way at Le Beausset, and moves up to P3. "The race is on," he's told, as he logs a 1m36.404s.

17:02

Stroll, who is overtaken with ease by Norris, finally pits for the first time in this race on lap 35. That just leaves his team-mate Vettel yet to visit the pitlane in this race.

17:02 Norris clears Stroll for sixth, and the Aston Martin driver drops into the pits thereafter for his one and presumably only stop.