French GP: Race - RE-CAP & RESULTS

FRENCH GP - RACE - RE-CAP & RESULTS

    Lewis Hamilton claimed the win after an intense and drama-filled French Grand Prix.

    Hamilton was lucky to escape any damage to his Mercedes on the opening lap collision between Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas.

    The Ferrari driver lost control under braking and slammed into Bottas, sending the Mercedes into a spin. Both cars sustained damage but they were both able to pit and avoid retirement with a few touch-ups. Vettel later received a 5-Second-Time-Penalty for causing the collision.

    Further down the pack, Romain Grosjean made contact with Esteban Ocon. Ocon then collided with Pierre Gasly, ending the race for both of them. Grosjean was then the sole remaining French driver in the race. However, the Haas driver also received a 5-Second-Time-Penalty for hitting Ocon.

    Sergio Perez, in the other Force India, saw his race end early as well as he was bugged down by an engine issue. A double DNF for the team is not what they had been hoping for.

    Charles Leclerc, who had secured that impressive 8th place start after an immaculate qualifying, finished in 10th to grab the last Championship point. He pitted twice but seemed to have little trouble passing back through the field to catch up. His team-mate, Ericsson, who had a heavy crash in FP1, finished in 13th.

    Daniel Ricciardo finished in 4th after being passed by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen for the last podium spot. Ricciardo's team-mate, Verstappen, finished in 2nd, making it 2 podium finished in a row for the young Dutch driver. 

    Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas spent most of the race playing catch up after their nasty collision on lap 1. They both managed to get their way back into the points. Vettel had the better hand and finished in 5th for 10 points, while Bottas finished just a couple of spots back in 7th.

    While Force India had bad luck, they weren't the only ones. Williams also seemed to be having a horrendous day as well. Sergey Sirotkin had 5 seconds added to his final race time after he was found to have been driving too slow under the safety car. He finished in 15th. Lance Stroll experienced a complete tyre explosion and slid off the track, his race quickly over. However, he still qualified as finishing in 17th as he had completed over 90% of the race distance.

    The same went for Alonso, who retired with a suspension issue, but was still classified as 16th. Team-mate, Vandoorne, finished in 12th, just a few shy spots away from the points.

    French team, Renault, saw both drivers finish in the points, despite Sainz reporting late in the race that he had no power. It almost seemed the car would come to a halt. However, he was able to bring it home in 8th, just one place ahead of Hulkenberg.

    While Grosjean didn't finish his home race in the points, Magnussen was able to bring Haas 8 points by finishing in 6th. Hartley, the sole remaining Toro Rosso driver finished in 14th.

    Hamilton now once again leads the Drivers Championship, ahead of the upcoming Austrian Grand Prix.

RESULTS:

1. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain / + 25 Points

2. Max Verstappen / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands / + 18 Points

3. Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland / + 15 Points

4. Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Australia / + 12 Points

5. Sebastian Vettel / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany / + 10 Points

6. Kevin Magnussen / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark / + 8 Points

7. Valtteri Bottas / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland / + 6 Points

8. Carlos Sainz / Renault-Renault / Spain / + 4 Points

9. Nico Hulkenberg / Renault-Renault / Germany / + 2 Points

10. Charles Leclerc / Sauber-Ferrari / Monaco / + 1 Point

11. Romain Grosjean / Haas-Ferrari / France 

12. Stoffel Vandoorne / McLaren-Renault / Belgium

13. Marcus Ericsson / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden

14. Brendon Hartley / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / New Zealand

15. Sergey Sirotkin / Williams-Mercedes / Russia*

16. Fernando Alonso / McLaren-Renault / Spain / DNF / Suspension**

17. Lance Stroll / Williams-Mercedes / Canada / DNF / Tyre**

RETIRED - Sergio Perez / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico / Engine

RETIRED - Esteban Ocon / Force India-Mercedes / France / Collision

RETIRED - Pierre Gasly / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / France / Collision

* - (Sirotkin) 5 Seconds added to final race time for driving unnecessarily slowly under the safety car

** - Notes both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll completed at least 90% of the race distance and were qualified as finished, despite their retirements

----

Article Written By: Amy Hawk

No copyright infringement intended

Follow us on Twitter @F1Insider78 & @bethonieboost