Weather conditions, strategies, overtaking… Finally a “thrilling” French Grand Prix

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Max Verstappen wins his first French Grand Prix on the Paul Ricard circuit. – NICOLAS TUCAT / POOL / AFP

  • Max Verstappen won the French Grand Prix on the Paul Ricard circuit, beating Lewis Hamilton, 2nd, and Sergio Pérez, 3rd.
  • This French Grand Prix was made spectacular by the weather conditions and the teams’ strategies.

Finally a show on the Paul Ricard circuit. RedBull driver Max Verstappen won the Formula 1 French Grand Prix at Le Castellet, ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, 2nd and his teammate Sergio Pérez, 3rd. With an incredible scenario, since Verstappen managed to overtake Hamilton at the very end of the Grand Prix.

An epic scenario made – in part – possible by the weather conditions. If the rain threatened, it did not finally fall during the race. But the quantities of the night were enough to change the track, and the behavior of the tires. “The conditions were difficult, it challenged us,” admitted Lewis Hamilton at the end of the race. “It was very complicated in the car. The rain did a grind reset [adhérence], it was very different from what we have had since the beginning of the weekend. It surprised us, everyone was surprised by that, ”explained the Frenchman Pierre Gasly, 7th.

Strategic battle

Starting in second position on the starting grid, the Englishman found himself leading the race much earlier than expected, after Verstappen braked too late from the first corner, forcing him to go out of bounds of the track . “I don’t think I braked much too late, but I lost the rear because it was very windy,” said the Dutch driver.

But RedBull was quick to react by trying the undercut – bring in your pilot one lap before to take advantage of fresh tires afterwards – during the first stopping session. A strategy that paid off since Verstappen managed to get back on track just in front of his best enemy. “I didn’t think it would work so well,” he admitted. “We had won the position because of Max’s fault, and we lost the position because of a miscalculation of the undercut, it’s like that”, meanwhile regretted Toto Wolf, the boss of Mercedes, at the microphone of Canal +.

The race was also a strategic battle between the different teams. With RedBull, McLaren or Aston Martin as the winner, and Mercedes and Ferrari as the winner. If the initial strategy provided for a single stop, the brand with the bull surprised everyone by bringing in Verstappen fifteen laps after his first stop, to put on yellow rubber, more efficient. “We pushed hard, and we decided to go to two stops and it worked out well. The wind calmed down and the track gave more performance, ”said Max Verstappen.

“Like what, the route is not as boring as you can tell”

After overtaking Valtteri Bottas thanks to an error by the Finn, who again showed that he could not be of much help for his leader, Max Verstappen gradually returned to Hamilton, despite a radio failure for the two leaders. It was finally in the penultimate lap that the young Dutchman managed to overtake, quite calmly thanks to the DRS, his elder brother, before heading for his third victory of the season. “We have a good car, but not fast enough on the straights. Even with another strategy, they would still have won, ”Lewis Hamilton swept away.

A race, described as “thrilling” by FIA boss Jean Todt, which delighted Eric Boullier, director of the French GP. “It just goes to show that the track isn’t as boring as you can tell. We expected a battle, we didn’t see any overtaking the old way, but it was a very good race. The FIA, the teams, the spectators, everyone is happy with the show, ”he was satisfied at the end of the race. Bodes well for the future of the French GP after complicated 2018, 2019 editions, and a canceled 2020 edition.





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