Verstappen wins French GP and takes huge points gain after Leclerc crashes

Max Verstappen has won the 2022 French Grand Prix and has made significant gains in World Championship with Charles Leclerc making a mistake and crashing out of the race whilst leading. On his 300th Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton took advantage of the situation and finished second. Red Bull and Mercedes renewed their rivalry with Perez and Russell fighting for the final podium place. Russell finished in P3 after a last lap duel. 

The build-up to the weekend demonstrated that Ferrari's high downforce took extra life out of their tyres compared to the set-up Red Bull introduced for the race. The opening stint of the race saw Leclerc and Verstappen go nose to tail for a series of laps. It looked as though Leclerc was a sitting duck given Red Bull's straight-line speed, but the Ferrari's strength in the corner was good enough to allow him to weather the initial storm. 

Just as the balance started to tip in favour of Leclerc, the man from Monaco ended up in the wall with zero championship points. Verstappen didn't drive away into the distance, but had the rest of the Grand Prix under control. Nicholas Latifi, Kevin Magnussen, Yuki Tsunoda and Guanyu Zhou were the other retirements in the hot weather. 

Fernando Alonso finished the race in sixth place after making a brilliant start off the line. McLaren took home P7 and P9 in what could be seen as a big result for Ricciardo following some upgrades to the car. But it was Alpine who scored slightly better in their 'best of the rest' championship duel. 

The start

On his 300th Formula 1 Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton started from fourth on the grid. Leclerc secured pole position but had both Red Bull drivers breathing down his neck because Carlos Sainz was forced to start from the back row with a new engine. Given the scorching surface temperature, most drivers started on the medium tyre with only Gasly, Bottas and Sainz on the hards. 

Leclerc and Verstappen held places off the start line but Hamilton got the better of Perez to move into P3 at the first corner. Ocon and Tsunoda collided at the chicane causing the only opening lap tangle. When DRS was activated, Leclerc had opened up a 1.1-second gap but down the straight, on lap three he closed it to get DRS. By lap 15, Leclerc had opened up a 1.7-second advantage. 

Championship shockwaves

As a result, Verstappen pitted on lap 16 for the hard tyres to emerge in seventh place. Ferrari decided not to react to the Dutchman's pitstop. A couple of laps later, Leclerc ended up the wall with team radio messages indicating that Leclerc struggled with a open throttle as he had last week. Most cars dived into the pitlane, with Verstappen holding onto the lead for the safety car restart. He had his 2021 title rival behind him. In the pits, Ferrari released Sainz unsafely and therefore picked up a five-second penalty. 

The race of the race was dominated by Ferrari's indecision on whether or not to pit Sainz for a second time. Sainz started to advance through the field, but they opted to pit him on lap 43 to ninth, potentially throwing away a third place. Meanwhile, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes renewed their rivalry. Russell and Perez had some minor contact and the British driver was adament that Perez was in the wrong. 

A late virtual safety car caused by Zhou put a podium fight on pause. But Perez was caught sleeping when the track went back to green allowing Russell to take the final podium place.