Max Verstappen wins French GP After Leclerc Crashes
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By Doug Hirdle
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Formula One champion Max Verstappen has won the 2022 French Grand Prix on Sunday after pole leader Charles Leclerc crashed his Ferrari on lap 18 and watched from the sidelines as Ferrari’s troubles resurfaced
The troubles for Ferrari is not welcomed news for Leclerc as he makes a bid for his first drivers’ championship, especially now as he falls to 63 points behind Max Verstappen. For the Dutchman, it was his seventh win of the season and the 27th win of his Formula One career.
However, the lead points are somewhat misleading when considering the performance of the Ferraris and Red Bulls, as both are almost even in the first twelve races this year.
“Of course it’s a great lead but a lot of things can happen. It’s probably a bit bigger than it should have been when you look at the performance of the two cars,” Verstappen said. “We still need a bit more one-lap race. I think Budapest will be a bit of a struggle for us and Ferrari will be really, really quick.”
Lewis Hamilton, who was driving in his 300th Grand Prix, finished second, his fourth podium in a row and best finish this season. George Russell, who managed to get ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez during the late restart, joined Hamilton on the podium and gave Mercedes their first double podium finish of the year.
Hamilton, who estimated losing about three kilos due to track temperatures hitting 51 degrees Celsius, was overheard congratulating George Russel on the incredible result for the team before adding;
“It was a tough race because my drinks bottle didn’t work,” Hamilton said. “But what a great result considering we’ve been so far off these guys all weekend.”
Hamilton, who is chasing his eighth championship, is hoping for another strong performance at Hungaroring next week. The Brit, who said that “I hope the car feels good there, I so love that track.”, has won at Hungaroring eight times.
For Leclerc, he too is hoping for a better performance after ending his day on lap 18 after he sent his Ferrari into a 360 degree spin before hitting the tire wall. The impact clearly took the wind out of the Monaco native, who could be heard breathing heavily before telling Ferrari the accident was the result of a throttle problem.
This is the third time this season that Leclerc has failed to finish a race and Ferrari’s seventh DNF of the season. Leclerc experience the same problem at the Austrian Grand Prix, and it near cost him a victory, and with Leclerc being only seven points ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, every point counts.
“We’ll add things up at the end of the season, but if we’re 25 or 30 points short at the season I can only blame myself,” Leclerc said. “I couldn’t go into reverse, but those are small details. You just can’t put a car into the wall.”
Verstappen, who was chasing Leclerc hard, came into the pits on lap 17 to change to hard tires, a decision Ferrari chose not to counter. Less than a lap later, Leclerc went wide into turn 11 and ended up on the tire wall.
“It was an error. It was a bit strange how I lost (the car),” Leclerc said. “If I stay at this level I certainly don’t deserve to win the championship. Two mistakes, here and Imola, that’s a bit much.”
With the safety car deployed, and driver’s pitting to switch tires, Ferrari’s problems only got worse after Carlos Sainz Jr. was hit with a 5-second penalty for almost coming into contact with Williams after his pitstop. Sainz, who had already passed George Russell and Sergio Perez, was miffed that he was called into the pits with only ten laps remaining. After the race, Sainz explained his position.
“At Ferrari we get super criticized for things other teams might go through in their pit stop window. We are not the disaster people seem to say we are. Yes I wanted to stay out, I maybe saw a podium position. The team has a lot more data on their screens. They did it with the best intentions and best spirit. My point of view is that if I couldn’t pass Checo, I would box. The moment I passed him, I thought ‘See if I could pull away.’ At that stage, the numbers said it was impossible I would make it to the end. In the moment my feeling was different but I didn’t see the numbers.”
Finishing out the top 10, Sergio Perez finished in fourth, while Carlos Sainz Jr was in fifth, Fernando Alonzo in sixth, Lando Norris in seventh and Esteban Ocon, Daniel Riccardo and Lance Stroll finished in eighth, ninth and tenth, respectively.
Next up for Formula One is the Hungary Grand Prix on the 31st of July, while sports betting fans interested in punting on the Belgium GP at the end of August can look forward to some great Canadian-friendly bookies offering up some great bonuses.
