ADVERTISEMENT
  • Who are you backing this weekend? #saudiarabia #formula1 #straighttothegrid
  • Highlights from the opening race of the season 🥳 #bahrain #2023 

📸: F1 live feed
  • Just hours away from the first race of the season!! #bahraingp #straighttothegrid #formula1
  • Follow us on TikTok ahead of the 2023 season #straighttothegrid #linkinbio
  • Verstappen has won the final race of 2022 - marking his 15th win of the season #abudhabi
  • George Russell wins the Brazilian Grand Prix in São Paulo 🏆
  • Max Verstappen has been crowned 2022 world champion after winning the Japanese GP 🏆🏁
  • 🏁 Highlights from Monza 🏁
Straight to the grid
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Driver News
    • Latest
    • Team News
    Red Bull

    Championship Standings: Red Bull running away with early points as Formula 1 heads to Australia for Round Three

    Perez

    Sergio Perez wins Saudi Arabian GP to lead second Red Bull one-two of the season making team history

    Perez

    Qualifying: Perez in pole position after Verstappen’s shock departure

    Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez

    FP3 Saudi Arabia: Red Bull domination continues with one-two to finish practice

    Verstappen, FP2, Saudi

    FP2 Saudi Arabia: Verstappen remains out front while Hamilton’s struggles magnified

    Verstappen

    FP1 Saudi Arabia: Max Verstappen fastest but Aston Martin showing pace at Jeddah

    saudi arabia

    Everything you need to know ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

    verstappen

    2022 Saudi Arabian GP: Throwback to Max Verstappen securing the win after epic battle with Leclerc

    Toto Wolff, Bahrain

    Big changes confirmed at Mercedes after “one of the worst days in racing”

    • Latest
    • Driver News
    • Team News
  • Features
    • All
    • Interviews
    • Race Reports 2020
    • Race Reports 2021
    Verstappen, FP2, Saudi

    FP2 Saudi Arabia: Verstappen remains out front while Hamilton’s struggles magnified

    Verstappen

    FP1 Saudi Arabia: Max Verstappen fastest but Aston Martin showing pace at Jeddah

    saudi arabia

    Everything you need to know ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

    verstappen

    2022 Saudi Arabian GP: Throwback to Max Verstappen securing the win after epic battle with Leclerc

    • Interviews
    • Race Reports 2020
    • Race Reports 2021
  • Races
    • Race Calendar
    • Championship standings
  • More
    • Quiz
    • Competitions
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Driver News
    • Latest
    • Team News
    Red Bull

    Championship Standings: Red Bull running away with early points as Formula 1 heads to Australia for Round Three

    Perez

    Sergio Perez wins Saudi Arabian GP to lead second Red Bull one-two of the season making team history

    Perez

    Qualifying: Perez in pole position after Verstappen’s shock departure

    Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez

    FP3 Saudi Arabia: Red Bull domination continues with one-two to finish practice

    Verstappen, FP2, Saudi

    FP2 Saudi Arabia: Verstappen remains out front while Hamilton’s struggles magnified

    Verstappen

    FP1 Saudi Arabia: Max Verstappen fastest but Aston Martin showing pace at Jeddah

    saudi arabia

    Everything you need to know ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

    verstappen

    2022 Saudi Arabian GP: Throwback to Max Verstappen securing the win after epic battle with Leclerc

    Toto Wolff, Bahrain

    Big changes confirmed at Mercedes after “one of the worst days in racing”

    • Latest
    • Driver News
    • Team News
  • Features
    • All
    • Interviews
    • Race Reports 2020
    • Race Reports 2021
    Verstappen, FP2, Saudi

    FP2 Saudi Arabia: Verstappen remains out front while Hamilton’s struggles magnified

    Verstappen

    FP1 Saudi Arabia: Max Verstappen fastest but Aston Martin showing pace at Jeddah

    saudi arabia

    Everything you need to know ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

    verstappen

    2022 Saudi Arabian GP: Throwback to Max Verstappen securing the win after epic battle with Leclerc

    • Interviews
    • Race Reports 2020
    • Race Reports 2021
  • Races
    • Race Calendar
    • Championship standings
  • More
    • Quiz
    • Competitions
No Result
View All Result
Straight to the grid
No Result
View All Result

Race Report: Max Verstappen extends championship lead with crucial overtake on Lewis Hamilton

Lap

Red Bulls Max Verstappen has won the French Grand Prix!

The Dutch driver secured the 13th win of his career after an impeccable overtake on the Mercedes in the hands of Lewis Hamilton on the penultimate lap this afternoon.

Another race-long battle for the win kept spectators on their toes, while a smart pit from Red Bull for fresh medium tyres on lap 32 gave their leading driver the advantage in catching his closest competitor in the Mercedes.

Hamilton and Bottas took turns on the team radio to say they were struggling with their much older tyres, while Bottas lashed out at the team for not taking his advice of a two-stop option.

The pair ultimately both lost positions in the final laps today, with Hamilton in second and Bottas in fourth.

The second Red Bull of Sergio Perez managed to overtake Bottas after getting a great run down the backstraight, to land the final step on the podium.

Report

At lights out, Verstappen headed off the track at turn two, allowing the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton to take the lead.

The Dutch driver remained ahead of Valtteri Bottas while Hamilton managed to stretch the advantage over Verstappen to 1.4s after the first lap.

Fernando Alonso was up two places to seventh after an impressive move on the first lap, while McLaren’s Lando Norris fell down the order and ended up in tenth behind his Aussie teammate Daniel Ricciardo after a mishap on Turn Two.

Verstappen’s intentions of catching up with the British world champion were clear as he quickly posted the fastest second lap in 1:39.613s.

By the end of Lap 4, Valtteri Bottas was following the front two closely, with Sergio Perez a couple of seconds off the second Mercedes in fourth.

Lewis Hamilton led by just over a second heading into Lap 9 but began to report rising tyre temperatures.

Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo – both on the medium Pirellis – were battling it out in the midfield for 8th, with Norris remaining in 10th, and awaiting a suitable moment for the overtake.

Heading into Lap 10, Lewis Hamilton pointed out the graining on his front tyres over the team radio, but had still stretched his lead to 1.9s over Verstappen now – who could at this point see the second Mercedes of Bottas in his mirror, just 1.2s behind.

Lap 12 then saw Ricciardo use his DRS to finally get ahead of the Alpine of Fernando Alonso with his typical lunge into the chicane.

Moments later, Lando Norris Also got ahead of the Alpine as well, lifting the McLaren duo into eighth and ninth, as they moved to hunt down the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

Moments later Vettel was up into the points on Lap 14 after making his move on Alonso – who was now back in 11th ahead of his teammate Esteban Ocon.

Lap 20 saw Lewis Hamilton pit from the lead for a new set of hard tyres and rejoined the track just behind Max Verstappen on an equally fresh set of hards, while Perez was over 10 seconds out front on ageing mediums.

On Lap 24 Perez pitted from the lead, allowing Verstappen to resume his position out front and returned to the track in fourth behind the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Bottas in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

At the halfway mark Verstappen was .8s in the lead, followed by Lewis Hamilton in second and Bottas in third. The second Red Bull of Perez was in 4th 17.8s off his teammate, with Vettel was further afield with his teammate Lance Stroll in P5 and P6 respectively.

McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo was in 7th, followed by the Ferrari duo of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc in P8 and P9, with Lando Norris in 10th – chasing the prancing horses.

On Lap 32 Max Verstappen pitted, opting for fresh medium tyres, re-entering the race in fourth and 15s off the pace. Hamilton was now in the lead, 3.9s ahead of his teammate in 2nd while Verstappen was in third and determined to chase the win on his fresh tyres.

Verstappen

In the final ten laps, Verstappen was less than three seconds off Bottas, who had been on the team radio to say he had “no fronts” and was struggling for grip – meanwhile, Hamilton was leading his Finnish teammate by 4s.

Lap 44 saw Verstappen overtake Bottas for second place with just 5.1s to Hamilton in first. Bottas held Verstappen off on the DRS straight but then missed the chicane, allowing Verstappen to make his move.

Further back in third and fourth, Perez was gaining on Valtteri Bottas, who was now saying his tyres were “finished”, and after locking up heading into turn one there was just 1.1s between him and the second Red Bull.

Then on Lap 49 Perez finally made the overtake on Bottas after getting a great run down the backstraight, securing the final step on the podium for Red Bull.

On Lap 52, teammate Max Verstappen took the lead of the French Grand Prix after an impeccable overtake on Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen crossed the line in first, with Lewis Hamilton hot on his tail in second, followed by Sergio Perez in third.

Lap

A very disappointed Valtteri Bottas missed out on the chance of a podium finish, and let his frustrations be known on the team radio in the final laps saying, “Why does nobody listen to me when I said this was going to be a two-stopper?”

Meanwhile, the McLaren duo of Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris were in P5 and P6 respectively, joined in the midfield by AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso in P7 and P8.

Closing out the Le Castellet top ten this afternoon were the Aston Martin pair,  Sebastian Vettel in P9 and Lance Stroll in tenth.

Racing resumes next weekend for the Steiermark Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on June 27.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Related

Tags: French Grand PrixLewis HamiltonMax VerstappenSergio Perez
Previous Post

Verstappen secures Red Bull hattrick with French GP win

Next Post

Declan Quigley: Verstappen produced a predatory masterclass to deliver a second win in three races

Related Posts

Hamilton
Features

Declan Quigley: ‘The top two drivers are heading to a final race shoot out level on points – and that’s exactly as it should be’

Verstappen
Race Reports 2021

Race Report: A tense battle sees Max Verstappen land a vital win at the US Grand Prix

Bottas
Race Reports 2021

Race Report: Valtteri Bottas sails to first season win at the Turkish Grand Prix

Hamilton
Race Reports 2021

Lewis Hamilton secures his 100th win at the Russian Grand Prix

verstappen
Race Reports 2021

Verstappen leads the 2021 Driver’s Championship after impeccable home race

lap OCon
Race Reports 2021

Race Report: Lap one carnage brings podium shake up in Hungary

Next Post
Red Bull, Max Verstappen in Bahrain

Verstappen gives major RB19 update in Bahrain which may raise concern among other teams in the paddock

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
30 years ago Jordan Grand Prix made its Formula One debut

30 years ago Jordan Grand Prix made its Formula One debut

Latest figures show F1 to be the second fastest growing major sports league on the planet

Latest figures show F1 to be the second fastest growing major sports league on the planet

Jordan

INTERVIEW: Eddie Jordan is an ‘irrepressible character’ who ‘ducked and dived’ to make it in F1

standings

Championship Standings: Max Verstappen leads as we head to Texas

Red Bull, Max Verstappen in Bahrain

Verstappen gives major RB19 update in Bahrain which may raise concern among other teams in the paddock

Aston Martin, FP2, Bahrain

Fernando Alonso shocks spectators as he places his Aston Martin at the top of the FP2 timesheet in Bahrain

Mercedes, George Russell, Bahrain

Issues persist for Mercedes as George Russell complains about floor and a ‘disturbance aerodynamically’

Aston Martin, FP2

Friday, Bahrain: Here are the full results from FP1 and FP2 as Aston Martin impress

Red Bull

Championship Standings: Red Bull running away with early points as Formula 1 heads to Australia for Round Three

Perez

Sergio Perez wins Saudi Arabian GP to lead second Red Bull one-two of the season making team history

Perez

Qualifying: Perez in pole position after Verstappen’s shock departure

Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez

FP3 Saudi Arabia: Red Bull domination continues with one-two to finish practice

Recent News

Red Bull

Championship Standings: Red Bull running away with early points as Formula 1 heads to Australia for Round Three

Perez

Sergio Perez wins Saudi Arabian GP to lead second Red Bull one-two of the season making team history

Perez

Qualifying: Perez in pole position after Verstappen’s shock departure

Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez

FP3 Saudi Arabia: Red Bull domination continues with one-two to finish practice

Popular Stories

  • Aston Martin, FP2

    Friday, Bahrain: Here are the full results from FP1 and FP2 as Aston Martin impress

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • FP2 Saudi Arabia: Verstappen remains out front while Hamilton’s struggles magnified

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Fernando Alonso hints at when he plans to leave Formula 1

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Issues persist for Mercedes as George Russell complains about floor and a ‘disturbance aerodynamically’

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Straight to the Grid

Straight to the Grid

Straight to the Grid is Ireland's first exclusive Formula One news source, bringing fans all of the latest
news, results, interviews, features and much more!

Navigation

  • Catch up
  • Competitions
  • Driver News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Irish F1
  • Latest
  • News
  • Quiz
  • Race Reports 2020
  • Race Reports 2021
  • Race Reports 2022
  • Team News
  • Uncategorized

Instagram

  • Who are you backing this weekend? #saudiarabia #formula1 #straighttothegrid
  • Highlights from the opening race of the season 🥳 #bahrain #2023 

📸: F1 live feed
  • Just hours away from the first race of the season!! #bahraingp #straighttothegrid #formula1
  • Follow us on TikTok ahead of the 2023 season #straighttothegrid #linkinbio
  • Verstappen has won the final race of 2022 - marking his 15th win of the season #abudhabi
  • George Russell wins the Brazilian Grand Prix in São Paulo 🏆
  • Max Verstappen has been crowned 2022 world champion after winning the Japanese GP 🏆🏁
  • 🏁 Highlights from Monza 🏁
  • Max Verstappen has won the Dutch GP 🏁
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Latest
    • Driver News
    • Team News
  • Features
    • Interviews
    • Race Reports 2020
    • Race Reports 2021
    • Race Reports 2022
  • Races
    • Championship standings
    • Race Calendar
  • More
    • Quiz
    • Competitions

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.