After an interesting qualifying on Saturday, let us look at what happened in the French Grand Prix during the 53 laps and the results of the race
All the cars started the race on medium tires, going with the strategy of 1 stop race. But that was not the case as the race progressed. As the team principles said undercut would play a big part, it surely did.
Max Verstappen increased his lead at the top of Drivers Championship, as the Red Bull got their strategy spot on. Let us look at the main events throughout the race that shaped an interesting end to the weekend in France.
Shaky Start For Max Verstappen in F1 French GP
As the lights went out Max Verstappen who started on pole, ,lost control of his car on turn 2 and went off making way for Lewis Hamilton. Not only Verstappen but Lando Norris who started on 8th, by the end of turn 1 he dropped to 10th behind his teammate Ricciardo.
It was Red Bull’s strategy and Verstappen’s skills that made up for that shaky start. Sergio Perez, who won the Azerbaijan GP again showed his quality in that Red Bull. Finishing on the podium and breaking the Mercedes reign on podium.
Max Verstappen broke Hamilton’s hold on French Grand Prix, exceptional drive from both the Red Bull drivers.ย The 2 stop strategy for Max paid off exceptionally and Perez drove pretty well, who was on a 1 stop strategy.
Mercedes And Lewis Hamilton Get It All Wrong
It went all wrong for Mercedes, except for the start. Going with a 1 stop strategy for both Hamilton and Bottas did not end in their favor as Perez took the final podium stop from Bottas. And Verstappen taking the race from Hamilton at the end.
The hard tires did not last as long as the team expected them too and even after continuous complaints from Bottas, Mercedes did not change their strategy. Sergio Perez was also on 1 stop strategy but the timing of the pit stop from Red Bull changed the whole shape of the race.
Hamilton and Bottas will not be happy, that’s for sure. This also means Red Bull have increased their lead over Mercedes in the constructors championship.
French Grand Prix Results: McLaren Celebrate, Scuderia Under Question
The late pit stop for Lando Norris raised many eyebrows but Lando answered to all the questions with a 5th place finish. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo who had a good race in sometime, finished 6th after starting 10th.
As for Scuderia, it was a weekend to forget. Both the drivers finished out of points, Sainz at 11th and Leclerc at 16th. Charles Leclerc had started to drop off early in the race, was there a problem with the car we will know later.
Aston Martin on the other hand saw both their drivers in points. Vettel finishing 9th, had a decent race after starting in 12th place. Lance Stroll pulled off a great comeback, after failing to get past Q1, he finished in 10th place ahead of Carlos Sainz.
It was a race which was decided on pure strategy by Red Bull and miscalculation from Mercedes. Max Verstappen after another win looks in contention to win the Drivers Championshipย
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