Verstappen gifted win after Leclerc crashes out from lead; Hamilton P2, Russell P3 for first Merc double podium of ’22; Sainz rallies from rear to P5 despite Ferrari indecision

In a deja vu sequence horrible enough to turn the stomach of any tifosi, Sunday’s French Grand Prix saw championship contender Charles Leclerc retire from the lead of a race for the third time this Formula 1 season, only this time it was down to the kind of driver error that has more often bedeviled his teammate and not the mechanical malfunctions that have plagued Leclerc’s campaign. After starting from the pole and successfully fending off the hard charging P2 Red Bull of Max Verstappen during the opening stanza of this 53-lap tilt form the eye-wateringly busy and colorful Paul Ricard Circuit in sweltering southern Le Castellet, the Monegasque inexplicably spun off at Turn 11 on Lap 18 and binned his blood red Ferrari nose first into the tire barriers after sailing through the theoretically grippy and definitely trippy run-off area. Unable to grab reverse and get out of that predicament, Leclerc howled in primal rage on the radio, knowing his race had unceremoniously ended even before his first pit stop, not to mention the further damage to his championship aspirations due to yet another DNF. Verstappen, on the other hand, was gifted a lead he would not relinquish for the remainder of the race. It was a bitter pill to swallow for Leclerc on a day when his was clearly the fastest car on track and, combined with Verstappen’s victory, saw his deficit to the Dutchman in the Drivers’ Standings balloon to 63 points. Between reliability issues and pilot error, Ferrari have left a ton of points on the table this season despite being every bit as quick as Red Bull when they go toe-to-toe. Leclerc and everyone at the Scuderia will be looking to put this weekend behind them in hurry and try to salvage a solid double points result next week in Hungary before the summer break.

Total heartbreak for Charles Leclerc 💔#FrenchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/boNWYn8vlY

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2022

Leclerc’s misfortune was good news not only for Verstappen but also for Lewis Hamilton and team Mercedes. With the lead Ferrari out of the picture and the second Prancing Horse of Carlos Sainz forced to fight his way back from a P19 start after engine component change penalties, Hamilton inherited P2 after a round of Lap 19 Safety Car pit stops. This was after the English seven-time World Champ made a decisive move on the number two Red Bull of Sergio Perez to take P3 away form him on the opening lap. While Hamilton had nothing for Verstappen and would eventually come home over 10-seconds behind Max, he was able to manage his tires nicely and keep Perez behind him to secure that happy second place finish. In fact, Checo struggled all weekend, perhaps due the broiling hot track temps here in the south of France. Not only could he not match the pace of his teammate but he struggled against both Mercedes in the race, getting passed not only by Hamilton on Lap 1 without being able to answer back but by the second Silver Arrow of George Russell on Lap 51 after seemingly being lulled to sleep by a Virtual Safety Car. When the VSC ended, Russell went full tilt boogie but Perez seemed to hesitate before putting his foot down, making him easy meat for the feisty young Brit. Russell held off Perez’s Red Bull for the final two laps and secured P3 and the last step on the podium, the first time that Mercedes have had two drivers in the podium places all year. While the Mercs are improving, it’s still glaringly obvious they are the third fastest team in 2022 and need either Ferrari or Red Bull to have issues to get a top three finish, and maybe serious trouble for both for a lucky win. Still, credit where credit is due: when the elite top two teams have faltered, the Silver Arrows have been there to pounce.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

The second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz had an epic if bizarre race on his way to a P5 result. After starting from P19 due to those engine change penalties, the Spaniard patiently carved his way through the field on Hard Pirelli rubber even while the vast majority of runners were on the softer, quicker Medium tires. By Lap 13, Sainz had passed Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll for P10 to put himself back into the points. He then got a paradoxical advantage when his teammate crashed out and caused a Safety Car, diving for the pits along with the Mercedes duo and nearly everyone else not named Verstappen for what should theoretically have been the cheap pit stop time-wise. But the team were dinged for a clearly unsafe release, nearly colliding with Alex Albon’s Williams upon exiting their box after an already slow stop, and Sainz was assessed a 5-second penalty. Nevertheless, the Spaniard put his head down and again was an overtaking machine, passing McLaren’s Lando Norris for P6 on Lap 21 and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso for P5 on Lap 22. By Lap 30, he was on the gearbox of Russell and quickly dispatched him with aplomb for P4 . Next in Sainz’s sights was the P3 Red Bull of Perez. But the Ferrari braintrust now appeared confused as to whether to call in Sainz for another stop, as well as serving the penalty, or to leave him out on that rapidly aging set of Medium tires until the finish. Even as Sainz harassed Checo, the team were on the radio asking Sainz his opinion of their strategy options. Most amazingly, while Sainz was just setting up Perez for a pass he would complete on Lap 42 to take that coveted P3, the team were telling him to box. Sainz didn’t want to comply but eventually consented, the Ferrari pit wall more than a little worried about the potential for tire failure on the red hot track and the nightmare of a possible double-DNF, zero points day. When Sainz emerged from his second stop in P9, it was time once again for another passel of passes, which he impressively executed in such a decisive manner that he was able to fight all the way back up to P5 before the laps ran out. It was one of the more remarkable fifth place drives you could ever want to see, though the Monday debrief at Ferrari over their strategy calls should be an animated one.

Top 10 finishers of the French GP:

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time — the Hungarian Grand Prix from the picturesque Hugaroring. It’s the last GP before the August break so everyone, especially Leclerc, will be looking to head to their vacations on a high note. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!