France – Race: A dominant Hamilton retakes the championship lead from a clumsy Vettel

Since the start of this French Grand Prix weekend, Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton have been dominating the competition. Sebastian Vettel, lurking in third position on the second row behind Valtteri Bottas, could he surprise one or both Mercedes right from the start?

From a purely strategic point of view, only the Mercedes and Red Bulls start in the Top 10 with Super soft tires, to try to go further in the race. However, their pace might be a little less fast than the Ferraris, even though Hamilton and Bottas’ pace in qualifying was impressive.

The start is given as the sun begins to break through the remaining clouds. At the first corner, Sebastian Vettel misjudges his braking point and goes on to hit the rear of Bottas’s Mercedes! The front wing of the Ferrari is destroyed, and Bottas loses a lot as well in this collision, leaving Max Verstappen and a surprising Carlos Sainz in 2nd and 3rd positions.

Another look 👀

Bottas spins round after being tagged by Vettel 😬#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/oYhc2CTuDq

— Formula 1 (@F1) 24 juin 2018

In the Sainte Baume corner, another collision between a Force India and a Toro Rosso. Unfortunately for the public, it’s Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly who collide! Both cars do not continue and the safety car enters the track to neutralize the race. Vettel, as well as Fernando Alonso, Bottas, and Sergey Sirotkin pit and rejoin at the back of the pack.

A nightmare of a ‘French Kiss’ at Turn 1

Gasly and Ocon both retire from their first home race#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/ixuafny5a0

— Formula 1 (@F1) 24 juin 2018

The Top 10 after 5 laps under the safety car is as follows: Hamilton, Verstappen, Sainz, Ricciardo, Magnussen, Leclerc, Magnussen, Grosjean, Pérez, and Hülkenberg.

The race is resumed on the 5th lap without major incidents in the first corner. Leclerc is very close to overtaking Magnussen at the end of the straight while Lewis Hamilton has taken full advantage of the restart to widen the gap against Verstappen.

During his pit stop, Vettel put on Soft tires with the idea of possibly not stopping again during the race. He is in 13th position, fighting for 12th place against Marcus Ericsson and Stoffel Vandoorne.

The track ultimately offers many overtaking opportunities. Vettel passes Ericsson and Vandoorne while Räikkönen takes 6th place from Magnussen. Ahead, Daniel Ricciardo puts pressure on Sainz and eventually overtakes him for 3rd place.

On the 9th lap, the penalty is issued, and Vettel is penalized by the race management with a 5-second penalty, to be served at his next stop or added to his race time. Today, it is the Le Mans winner, Frenchman Yannick Dalmas, who is officiating as the steward.

Things are moving at all levels! Kimi Räikkönen also takes 4th place from Carlos Sainz, who knows he’s in a very different race from those following him and offers little resistance.

LAP 10/53

Kimi puts a move on Magnussen for P5

As Ricciardo slips past Sainz for third#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/Zgj0Hijp9C

— Formula 1 (@F1) 24 juin 2018

Sebastian Vettel continues to make his way up and moves up to 8th position. Following him, Bottas struggles more due to an issue with his floor but executes a nice maneuver on Pérez for 11th place.

Romain Grosjean is excluded from the Top 10 on the 20th lap after a maneuver by Bottas, despite having Soft tires. The Frenchman is struggling with his Ultra Soft tires. On Canal +, Esteban Ocon, visibly very annoyed, accuses the Haas driver of the French chaos in the first lap.

LAP 19/53

Another fine wheel-to-wheel manoeuvre from Bottas

The Finn moves back into the points after passing Grosjean#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/7zJnJSDs0u

— Formula 1 (@F1) 24 juin 2018

The engineers are worried about the weather. At McLaren, Fernando Alonso is warned that drops could appear within 20 minutes, and at Red Bull, Daniel Ricciardo is informed of the presence of dark clouds nearby. The Australian is not disturbed and continues to gain time on his teammate, who is in front of him in 3rd place.

The Top 5 is made up of Hamilton, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Räikkönen, and Vettel, followed about ten seconds later by a group consisting of Carlos Sainz’s Renault, Kevin Magnussen’s Haas, and the other Renault of Nico Hülkenberg, who is rapidly catching up to the two men.

Max Verstappen is the first of the leading men to make his pit stop. The Dutchman switches to Soft tires. He comes out just ahead of Vettel’s Ferrari. Sainz follows suit and comes out just behind Marcus Ericsson, wheel-to-wheel in a very tricky pit exit that had already been flagged as dangerous by the drivers at the beginning of the weekend.

All the frontrunners, except Hamilton and Räikkönen, have now changed tires and switched to Softs. Sergio Pérez retires in the pit due to an engine problem. Romain Grosjean is under the stewards’ scrutiny; he receives a 5-second penalty for his move at the start against Esteban Ocon’s Force India. A pointless and foolish maneuver that could very well exclude him from points at the end of the race…

Charles Leclerc finally makes a pit stop and fits Super Soft tires. He comes out behind Alonso, who is struggling behind Ericcson’s Sauber.

On the 32nd lap, Hamilton finally pits and switches to Soft tires. He relinquishes control of the race to Räikkönen, who will be the last to pit on the next lap to fit Super Softs. An aggressive strategy for Ferrari as Vettel was overtaken at the same time by Ricciardo’s Red Bull, on whom he had gained an advantage due to the Australian’s pit stop.

LAP 34/53

Ricciardo pounces on Vettel to re-take the final podium spot

📻: “Nice job mate, good move”#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/KaFWJypgPR

— Formula 1 (@F1) 24 juin 2018

Valtteri Bottas is in the pits for his second stop but it’s not going well. He comes out behind Vandoorne’s McLaren, which also needs to pit. The same misfortune for Vettel, who chooses to switch to Ultra softs and serves his 5-second penalty. The current, still, championship leader is in 5th!

Räikkönen’s engineer urges his driver to keep pushing. Ricciardo, in front of him, is said to be struggling. The Finn is gaining more than a second per lap on the Australian. The battle for the third step of the podium is becoming intense.

There are less than 10 laps remaining and Räikkönen is closing in on Ricciardo’s exhausts, well aided by the two Williams cars that are slow to move off the racing line to be lapped. With a bold overtake at the North chicane, the Ferrari finds the gap and snatches the podium from the Red Bull!

LAP 46/53

Räikkönen relentlessly chases Ricciardo for P3

And finally gets the job done on the back straight#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/oZCXcTJZaI

— Formula 1 (@F1) 24 juin 2018

Alonso and McLaren drink the cup to the dregs. A new stop 6 laps from the goal for the Spaniard and a set of Ultra soft tires to try to make a time?

It’s definitely not a celebration for the French clan. Carlos Sainz announces a loss of power on his radio and loses two positions while Lance Stroll’s Williams loses control of his car following a puncture in the Signe curve. The virtual safety car is deployed.

The standings will not change and Lewis Hamilton thus wins his first French Grand Prix and at the same time retakes the lead of the World Championship!

The complete race standings:

🏁 CLASSIFICATION (RACE FINISH) 🏁

A controlled race from Hamilton and the 26th different circuit where he's won!#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/EAr0dCXJ5f

— Formula 1 (@F1) 24 juin 2018

From our special correspondent in Le Castellet