Verstappen wins French GP as Leclerc crashes out

Max Verstappen cruised to victory in the French GP – taking his seventh win this season – as he benefitted from Charles Leclerc crashing out of the lead. Mercedes scored their first double podium this season, with Lewis Hamilton second and George Russell coming third.

• Verstappen wins, 10.587secs ahead of Hamilton
• Verstappen leads championship by 63 points
• Leclerc crashes out of lead

Leclerc admits fault for French GP crash

After a series of missed opportunities, Leclerc has been looking to claw back some points in the championship battle. Ferrari pulled off the perfect tow strategy to ensure Leclerc started on pole, but tyre degradation was still a key concern, especially with the rising temperatures.

The Ferrari driver did well to protect his lead in the early stages of the race, and even managed pulling out of DRS range from Verstappen, but he made a crucial error on lap 18. Coming through Turn 11, the rear of his car stepped out and he crashed into the barriers.

Speaking after the race, a visibly upset Leclerc admitted that the crash was his fault. This is the third time this year that he has retired from the lead of a race, and it puts him 63 points behind Verstappen now.

Verstappen wins to extend title lead

It was smooth sailing for Verstappen from there on, as he went on to clinch his seventh victory this year.

"I think we had really good pace from the start," he said. "I was putting pressure on Charles. But following around here with this heat, the tyres are overheating and I could never really go for a move – only after Turn 11. But we just tried to stay calm and close. Of course, we pitted a bit early, and, from then onwards, you never know how the race is going to go. But the car was quick today, and of course, unlucky for Charles – I hope he is okay.”

"From there onwards I just did my race and looked after the tyres, and because of the pit lane being so long, you couldn’t do another stop, so you had to stay out. But the tyres were wearing a lot and it was all about looking after the tyres until the end."

Double podium for Mercedes

Hamilton finished just over 10 seconds behind in second place, making his fourth consecutive podium appearance.

There was a fierce battle for third place, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Mercedes’ George Russell in contention.

After starting at 19th position on the grid due to engine penalties, Sainz had fought his way up the order. On lap 31, he passed Perez to move up to third place, but he still had a five-second time penalty to worry about (handed to him for an unsafe release). Ferrari opted to pit him for fresh tyres soon after – citing tyre life as a concern – and he served his penalty in the pits. But this dropped him all the way down to ninth place with just a handful of laps to go.

This meant that Russell and Perez battled it out for final podium spot, and the two made contact at Turn 8. Russell, however, ended up gaining the upper hand and Sainz recovered to finish fifth.

McLaren and Alpine were level on points heading into the French GP, but with Fernando Alonso (P6) finishing ahead of Lando Norris (P7), and Esteban Ocon (P8) ahead of Daniel Ricciardo (P9), Alpine moved ahead in the standings. Lance Stroll completed the top 10 after fending off teammate Sebastian Vettel in a last lap scrap.

Up next on the calendar is the Hungarian GP on July 29-31.

2022 French GP results

Also see:

Leclerc wins Austrian GP after battling mechanical issues