F1 French GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race day
Live updates from Formula 1's French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard
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Pitting that much later has paid off for Norris who overtakes Sainz at Turn 1 and is up to P8. The McLaren driver is flying right now.
The Norris vs Gasly incident from earlier was noted by the race stewards but it has been deemed not worthy of an investigation. Probably right, as the drivers have sorted out the squabble on the track.
Leclerc then loses a further two places in quick succession to Norris and Gasly which sees the Ferrari driver drop to 11th place.
At Turn 1 the Ferrari drivers switch positions to release Sainz, with Leclerc struggling for pace on his hard tyres, and further around the lap at Turn 8 Norris gets ahead of Gasly for ninth place.
Norris and Gasly get incredibly close around the final sector, at least we think so, as the TV director shows their fight through a tiny in-screen box while focusing on the leaders. Gasly runs wide but keeps position.
Ricciardo's race engineer admires his driver's work with a simple "nice" as he gets by Ocon at Turn 1 for eighth place. The Alpine driver then loses places to Sainz, Gasly and Norris - Ocon's tyres must be really crying out now.
And just like that Raikkonen goes from P11 to P14 in the space of a lap as Ricciardo, Sainz and Gasly fly by him with their newer tyres.
Leclerc, on the fresher tyres, gets by Raikkonen to take 10th place. That particular group which has stopped is quickly catching those yet to stop, so overtakes a plenty coming up.
There will be plenty of focus on the drivers who started on the hards now to see how long they can go for and at what pace. Vettel is the leader of that gang, currently sixth, with an eight-second gap over team-mate Stroll.
All the midfield runners that started on medium tyres have pitted for the hards - except for Norris who is going on a little longer.
Gasly does indeed pit, joined by Sainz and Russell, but it is to little effect as Ricciardo storms past to gain track position on the AlphaTauri and Ferrari drivers.
"Box to overtake Gasly," Ricciardo is told over his McLaren team radio. The Australian duly pits, so we'll expect Gasly to pit next time around to try to defend against the undercut.
On lap 16 both Tsunoda and Schumacher pit to follow the same strategy as Leclerc - ditching the mediums for hards.
Leclerc, another who was really suffering on his mediums and had been overtaken by Ricciardo, pits on lap 15 to ditch those mediums for hards. The Ferrari driver comes out in P19.
Alonso radios to his Alpine team for "Plan B" - which will probably be a switch to a two-stop strategy.
And the Aston Martin driver duly gets the move done in good time, under braking at Turn 8, to take 10th place from Alonso. The Alpine driver is really struggling on his medium tyres.
Vettel, the first of the hard tyre runners, is now reeling in Alonso in the hunt for P10.
