Max Verstappen wins after rival spins out
|Published
BACK ON TOP: Max leads Mercedes
Formula One champion Max Verstappen stretched his championship lead to 68 points as he returned to the top of the podium on a nightmare weekend for rival Charles Leclerc.
With Ferrari’s Leclerc starting Sunday’s French Grand Prix in pole, the Monaco ace crashed out on lap 19 to hand the Red Bull ace a clear run at victory at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Leclerc crashed out on turn 11 after losing the back end of his car as he pushed to widen the gap on Verstappen, who had pitted for a new set of hard tyres.
CELEBRATION TIME 🍾![CDATA[]]>📸
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2022
Say cheese @Max33Verstappen and @redbullracing! 😉![CDATA[]]>🧀![CDATA[]]>🇫![CDATA[]]>🇷#FrenchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/xqScA20sVR
It was the third time Leclerc failed to finish due to a mistake after leading this season.
Behind Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton led teammate George Russell to a double podium for Mercedes for the first time this season.
Hamilton, in his 300th GP, had jumped Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull, from fourth to third with a brilliant start, before Russell hunted down Perez with four laps to go as he caught the Mexican sleeping at a restart following a virtual safety car.
Left it all out there today and P2 is a great result! First time up there with @GeorgeRussell63 as well. It’s so rewarding to see how far we’ve come since the beginning of the season. Still have work to do, but definitely going to enjoy this one !!! pic.twitter.com/64WH9bZX2g
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) July 24, 2022
Carlos Sainz finished the race in fifth place behind Perez, with fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso in sixth.
Next up on the calendar is this week’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
TEAM STANDINGS 📊
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2022
Mercedes close the gap to Ferrari in P2 👀
And, Alpine moves ahead of McLaren 📈#FrenchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/mKRDlw59Cm
Formula 1 Standings
1 Max Verstappen (Red Bulls) 233
2 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 170
3 Sergio Perez (Red Bull) 163
4 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 144
5 George Russell (Mercedes) 143