Over the first 10 laps Hamilton built a 2.6s gap back to Bottas, who in turn eked out a 3.8s advantage over Leclerc. Behind them, Sebastian Vettel was the man on the move in the early stages, with the German passing both McLarens to rise to fifth from his starting position of seventh to sit 7.3s behind Verstappen as the opening stint wore on.
Verstappen was the first of the front runners to make a pit stop, with the Dutchman taking on white-banded hard compound tyres at the end of lap 20. Leclerc was next in, on the following lap, and when he rejoined, on the same compound, he was fourth, five seconds ahead of the Red Bull.
Ahead, Hamilton now led Bottas by 7.5s with Vettel now third. Bottas made his sole tyre stop on lap 23 and the Finn was followed to the pit lane by race leader Hamilton. The Briton emerged just ahead of Vettel and after locking up on the next lap the German also pitted for hard tyres, at the end of lap 25. He emerged in P5, 4.5s behind Max.
The order at the front now stabilised and over the next 15 laps Hamilton increased his lead over Bottas to 12.9 seconds, while Leclerc fell 7.2s behind the second Mercedes. Verstappen was now in a race of his own, with the Dutchman lying 6.7 seconds adrift of Leclerc and more than seven seconds clear of Vettel.
With the gaps throughout the field looking relatively fixed the race the order looked like remaining static until the chequered flag. However, a handful of laps from the finish the grand prix came alive once more, first when Norris began to suffer hydraulic problems and then when Toro Rosso’s Alex Albon clipped a bollard that had to be recovered from the track.
The Albon incident brought out the VSC, and the spell at lower speed left Bottas struggling to get heat into his tyres. Leclerc closed him down and prepared to attack. Behind them Norris’ was caught by his rivals and on a combative final lap he was passed by Ricciardo, Räikkönen and Hulkenberg, though Ricciardo was then placed under investigation for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
In the midst of it all, Hamilton took his 79thcareer win ahead of Bottas who denied Leclerc to claim P2 by just 0.9s. Verstappen followed to take his fifth fourth place finish of the season. Vettel finished fifth and the German also took fastest lap after a late pit stop for soft tyres. Sixth place went to Sainz, crossing the line ahead of Ricciardo, Räikkönen, Hulkenberg and Norris.
| French Grand Prix – Paul Ricard 53 laps, 309.626km., Weather: Sunny. |
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| CLASSIFIED: | |||
| P. | DRIVER | TEAM | TIME/GAP |
| 1. | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes AMG | 1h24:31.198 |
| 2. | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes AMG | + 18.056 |
| 3. | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 18.985 |
| 4. | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 34.905 |
| 5. | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | + 1:02.796 |
| 6. | Carlos Sainz Jr | McLaren | + 1:35.462 |
| 7. | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | + 1 Lap |
| 8. | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | + 1 Lap |
| 9. | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1 Lap |
| 10. | Pierre Gasly | Red Bull | + 1 Lap |
| 11. | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | + 1 Lap |
| 12. | Sergio Perez | Racing Point | + 1 Lap |
| 13. | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | + 1 Lap |
| 14. | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | + 1 Lap |
| 15. | Alex Albon | Toro Rosso | + 1 Lap |
| 16. | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | + 1 Lap |
| 17. | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 1 Lap |
| 18. | Robert Kubica | Williams | + 2 Laps |
| 19. | George Russell | Williams | + 2 Laps |
| FASTEST LAP: SEBASTIAN VETTEL - 1:32.740 | |||
| NOT CLASSIFIED: | |||
| 20. | Romain Grosjean | Haas | techical |
|
2018 Lewis Hamilton - Мерцедес AMГ - 1h30:11.385 2019 Lewis Hamilton - Мерцедес AMГ - 1h24:31.198 @MakFormula1 - Republic of Macedonia |
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| ***CLASSIFICATION AFTER 8/21 RACES*** | |||
| DRIVERS: | |||
| 1. | Lewis Hamilton | 187 | |
| 2. | Valtteri Bottas | 151 | |
| 3. | Sebastian Vettel | 111 | |
| 4. | Max Verstappen | 100 | |
| 5. | Charles Leclerc | 87 | |
| 6. | Pierre Gasly | 37 | |
| 7. | Carlos Sainz Jr | 26 | |
| 8. | Kimi Raikkonen | 19 | |
| 9. | Nico Hulkenberg | 16 | |
| 10. | Daniel Ricciardo | 16 | |
| 11. | Kevin Magnussen | 14 | |
| 12. | Lando Norris | 14 | |
| 13. | Sergio Perez | 13 | |
| 14. | Daniil Kvyat | 10 | |
| 15. | Alex Albon | 7 | |
| 16. | Lance Stroll | 6 | |
| 17. | Romain Grosjean | 2 | |
| 18. | Antonio Giovinazzi | 0 | |
| 19. | George Russell | 0 | |
| 20. | Robert Kubica | 0 | |
| CONSTRUCTORS: | |||
| 1. | Mercedes AMG | 338 | |
| 2. | Ferrari | 198 | |
| 3. | Red Bull | 136 | |
| 4. | McLaren | 40 | |
| 5. | Renault | 32 | |
| 6. | Racing Point | 19 | |
| 7. | Alfa Romeo | 19 | |
| 8. | Toro Rosso | 17 | |
| 9. | Haas | 16 | |
| 10. | Williams | 0 | |
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