French Grand Prix race day
By: Geoff Creighton
Summary
Hamilton wins the French Grand Prix | |
Bottas second, Leclerc makes an unsuccessful late attempt at a pass but remains third | |
Vettel up to fifth from seventh |
Status: Stopped
And so, that's that. Just one week until the next GP in Austria, and we'll see you there for all the action as it unfolds! Here's the report, and we'll bid you au revoir!
The national anthems, like they were in Monaco, were being played by a live band. Assuming it's the same band, they've not had to learn anything new...
The giant red gorilla stands atop the podium. We're not sure of it's significance, the south of France is seldom known for its large simian population...
The top three are greeted by Sir Jackie Stewart, who celebrated his 80th birthday a couple of weeks ago. He doesn't look it at all, rather he looks more than ready to jump into any of the cars today...tartan trousers and all.
Leclerc: "I gave it everything, obviously the first run was okay but the Mercedes were just too quick. I was catching Valtteri, I think he was struggling to turn his tyres on after the VSC. It's a great day for us"
Valtteri: "Not that much happening from my side honestly. The start was kinda the best bet for me, but Lewis had a good start too, ultimately he was quicker today and I couldn't match his pace. It's important to understand today what I can do better for next time."
Hamilton: "It's definitely been a really good weekend, it's such a challenge out there and I love that, really trying to find the edge. I couldn't do it without this incredible team. We're creating history together and I'm so proud to be a part of it. Valtteri did a great job this weekend - I'm hyped."
Hamilton seemed to have that all under control. Leclerc gave Bottas a real run for his money - for the love of F1, it would be lovely if we could have a proper two-team fight. Maybe even three - is that asking for too much?
A big skirmish for seventh, as Ricciardo goes off-track twice to recover the position from Norris, then Raikkonen.
Sainz was the final driver to finish on the lead lap, while Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg and an unfortunate Norris complete the points.
Hamilton set a 1m32.764s on the final lap to snatch fastest lap, only for Vettel - who was fifth over the line - to pinch it by 0.024s!
Leclerc had a look at Bottas into the final corner but Mercedes seals a one-two, with Verstappen fourth over the line.
Norris couldn't hold on, and he's tumbled behind Ricciardo, Raikkonen and Hulkenberg. A great shame after a stellar drive to hang onto that.
Leclerc isn't close enough to have a look into the chicane, or into Signes - so second should be Bottas's.
Hamilton starts the final lap with 17s in hand over Bottas, who is only four tenths ahead of Leclerc!
Vettel pits for a set of softs, no doubt with the hope of bagging a bonus point for the fastest lap.
Ricciardo's right on the back of Norris now - Norris still has hydraulics problems, and Ricciardo smells blood.
There's a bollard rolling along the track. Now THERE'S excitement...VSC as the marshal retrieves it.
Norris looks like he's weathered the storm so far, opening the gap to Ricciardo by two seconds with his unwell McLaren.
There's a lot less drama at the front of the field. Hamilton is 15s clear of Bottas, whose just had a pretty scruffy lap. Leclerc's too far back to give him too much to worry about, though.
Grosjean's been asked to pull in and retire. Certainly not the kind of home race any driver dreams of.
"The car will become unstable because of the diff, and the steering's going to become heavy." Hydraulics issues continue to plague Norris, who's holding onto 7th so far.
Norris is battling quite hard in his McLaren to hang onto this seventh place.
He has some kind of hydraulics problem that's giving him some inconsistent braking grief, and it's not going to get any better from here.
He's just been warned by the team: "This situation is getting worse. We've seen cars get to the end from here."
He has some kind of hydraulics problem that's giving him some inconsistent braking grief, and it's not going to get any better from here.
He's just been warned by the team: "This situation is getting worse. We've seen cars get to the end from here."
The Toro Rossos are having a fight for 14th place, Kvyat all over Albon with the faster medium tyre. The Russian tries a move around the outside of Signes, but Albon holds the line.
Ferrari, perhaps jokingly, tells Vettel he's now on plan F, and that he should keep his head down and keep pushing. Anything to keep us entertained.
"I'm having pretty bad upshifts, very aggressive upshifts," says Norris, panicked over the radio. So that's a hydraulic problem, as the shifter mechanism and DRS are both hydraulically activated. It's going to be a tough ten laps.
That effort is a new lap record, too. Or was, anyway, until Hamilton shaved another four thousandths off on lap 42.
Ha - Hamilton, on tyres he reports have blisters, immediately snatches back fastest lap with a 1m33.724s.
Ooooh. There's a new fastest lap - but it's not from either of the Mercedes. Leclerc sets a 1m33.828s.
"We're managing a small issue, we cannot use DRS" says Norris's engineer. "As in not working, or I'm not allowed?" enquires Norris, to which the response is "you are not allowed." A genuine concern, or a hold-station order?
The Racing Point mechanics looked ready to go out into the pits, but Stroll remains on-track for another lap.
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