Circuit Paul Ricard, yesterday witnessed a thrilling tassel between the two Mercedes and the Red bulls. Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton on the final lap to win the French Grand Prix and extend his lead over his title rival by 12 points. Hamilton finished off second and was joined by Sergio Perez to complete the podium.

Red Bull out-strategized Mercedes when Verstappen stopped twice to Hamilton’s one-stop. On Lap 52 of 53 Verstappen used his fresher tyres and the DRS system to catch Hamilton and pass him from the inside before swooshing off to grab his third win of the season, also a third consecutive win for Red Bull in the turbo-hybrid era. Mercedes was absolutely unbeaten at Paul Ricard until yesterday! 

The race result proved to be more than made up for Verstappen losing out to Hamilton at the race start. At the back, Valtteri Bottas ended up fourth behind Perez, having complained to Mercedes that he was ignored when he advised them to switch to a two-stop, the way Red Bull did with Verstappen.

Behind the leading four, McLaren saw Lando Norris finish fifth ahead of teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who enjoyed his best race of the season, a rather amazing day for them! Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly had a strong race pace and took his best finish at his home Grand Prix with P7, ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Alpine. With three consecutive points finish at ninth place, Sebastian Vettel made a long first stint work, with teammate Lance Stroll, who took the final points of the race, behind him at 10th due to a late pass on the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. Terrible day for Ferrari, who just lacked the pace at Paul Ricard, Sainz finished at 11th and Leclerc could not do better than P16. 

At the circuit which is traditionally the happiest hunting ground for the Silver Arrows, Verstappen was a star! But can Red Bull maintain their advantage at their home track, the Red Bull Ring, in a week’s time? Hold on to your hats because F1 cars will be back on track this Friday at the Styrian GP on 25th June to find out! 

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