Max Verstappen, who started on the front row, crossed the line in first to win the French Grand Prix for the second year in a row.
The Dutchman sailed to the win with a nearly ten-second lead after his top competitor, Charles Leclerc, crashed out earlier on in the race.
Joining the Red Bull man on the podium was the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton in second and his teammate George Russell in third after a late overtake on Sergio Perez for the final step. This marks the first double podium for the Brackley-based team this season.
Speaking after the race, Verstappen said: “We had really good pace from the start, I was putting pressure on Charles. Following around here, with this heat, the tyres are overheating a lot so I could never really go for a move – only once.
“We just tried to stay calm, stay close… we pitted a bit earlier and from there onwards you never know how the race is going to go. The car was quick today.
“Of course, unlucky for Charles and I hope he’s okay. From there onwards, I just did my race and looked after the tyres.
“With the pit lane being so long, you couldn’t do another stop so you had to stay out. The tyres were wearing a lot so it was about looking after the tyres to the end.”
Lewis Hamilton told Sky Sports: “That was actually a tough race because my drinks bottle didn’t work, but what a great result, considering we’ve been so far off these guys all weekend.
“Reliability is one thing that my team’s been amazing at, so a huge congratulations to the team back at the factory, the team here, who without them we couldn’t get this podium.”
George Russell in third added: “I’m sweating and a bit knackered now, to be honest.
“The pace was strong but we really struggled with the warm-up on that restart and Checo was all over me. I was glad to see that chequered flag and come home with P3. Two podiums for Mercedes is great.”
