In what could prove to be a decisive juncture in the Formula 1 (F1) championship fight, Max Verstappen took the chequered flag under the scorching heat at Circuit Paul Ricard in the south of France, as his championship rival Charles Leclerc spectacularly crashed out of the lead on lap 18, allowing the Dutch driver to extend his lead to a healthy 63 points.
Mercedes found a strong pace overnight and finished ahead of Sergio Perez as Hamilton and Russell took up the other two spots on the podium, while Carlos Sainz came home in P5, after starting from the back of the grid.
Here are some key takeaways from the 2022 French GP:
Leclerc And Ferrari Lose Further Ground In Championship Battle
With Carlos Sainz finally ending his wait for a win at Silverstone and Leclerc ending his barren spell with a win at Spielberg, Ferrari were slowly building momentum after two wins on the trot. Continuing the winning streak was proving to be a slightly tougher task after it was confirmed that Sainz would be starting from the back of the grid after taking on extra engine components.
Leclerc put them in with a fighting chance by storming to his seventh pole position of the season. However, as has been the case for quite a few races this season, the Scuderia failed to convert their strong qualifying display into a race win. After holding onto the lead at the start and fending off Verstappen’s advances, Leclerc cracked under pressure and crashed into the barriers at turn 11 after making a mistake. Verstappen duly took over the lead of the race and controlled the pace to take an unspectacular yet solid win and extend his championship lead to a commanding 63 points.
On the other hand, Sainz showed a strong pace throughout the race and made his way through the midfield to an extent of challenging the frontrunners. A podium finish seemed on the cards; however, Ferrari lacked decisiveness in their strategy making and pit the Spaniard too late after committing to a two-stopper. A net P5 along with a point for the fastest lap meant that Ferrari only took 11 points from the weekend compared to Red Bull’s 37- commiserating a miserable race day for the Italian team in which they lost ground to their rivals in both championships.
Mercedes Pick Up Scraps Yet Again
With mechanical issues and driver errors frequently troubling the top two teams this season, Mercedes showed yet again that they have an extremely reliable package as well as arguably the best driver pairing on the grid.
The Brackley-based team benefitted from Leclerc’s DNF and Sainz’s late pit stop to take P2 and P3 for their first double podium of the season, with both drivers overtaking the other Red Bull of Perez to achieve this feat.
While they’re still quite a way off Red Bull and Ferrari in terms of pure pace, the fact that they’re now just 44 points behind Ferrari in the Constructors’ standings proves that having bulletproof reliability and having two drivers performing at the highest level goes a long, long way in the sport.
McLaren And Alpine’s Battle for P4
After fitting major update packages to their cars this weekend, McLaren enjoyed another double points finish as Norris and Ricciardo finished P7 and P9 respectively. What’s more, Ricciardo seemed comfortable with the car and was more or less on par with his teammate, in terms of performance. This will come as a relief to a lot of people inside the team, none more than Ricciardo himself, especially if they are to take the fight to Alpine for P4 in the championship.
The French team enjoyed double points finish themselves, slotting ahead of the two McLarens in P6 and P8, opening up a slender 4-point margin in the championship. While both teams seem comfortable ahead of the rest of the midfield, their biggest concern would be to address their inconsistencies and reliability issues, in order to edge the other in their intensifying championship battle.
Next up, is round 12 of the F1 World Championship at the Hungaroring circuit in Hungary, as the teams and drivers will be eager to finish the first half of the season on a high before enjoying a 4-week summer break.