Max Verstappen’s championship hopes in 2022 took another boost on Sunday after the Dutchman emerged victorious at the French Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver prevailed after his closest title rival Charles Leclerc crashed out of the race.
Leclerc, who started from pole position, held the lead throughout the opening portion of the event. He opted to stay out on the circuit after Verstappen made a pit stop on lap 16.
However, two laps later, Leclerc found himself in the barrier after spinning at Turn 11, ending his chances of victory.
It marked Leclerc’s third retirement of the 2022 season, with all of them coming in the previous seven races.
Lewis Hamilton endured a lonely race and crossed the line in second place, securing his fourth consecutive podium finish and his best result of the year.
Mercedes took a double podium finish as George Russell crossed the line in third place, making a late-race move on Sergio Perez.
Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu came to a halt on the circuit late on, which saw the intervention of a Virtual Safety Car. At the restart, Russell jumped on the Mexican to move into third place.
Prior to the move, the duo made contact at Turn 8 as they battled for position, causing Perez to take to the escape road. The stewards looked into the incident, put didn’t issue a penalty.
Carlos Sainz was fifth on the road, having made a late pit stop onto the Medium compound soon after moving ahead of Perez for third. Sainz was forced to stay stationary in his pit box for five seconds during the stop as Ferrari was deemed to have released him unsafely during his maiden trip into the pit lane.
The Spaniard started the race from the back row and progressed up the field throughout – but was left confused over the team radio as to why Ferrari decided to bring him into the pits while running in third.
Alpine’s Fernando Alonso was sixth, heading the lead McLaren of Lando Norris.
Esteban Ocon was eighth, managing to score points after being issued a five-second time penalty early in the race due to contact with Yuki Tsunoda on the opening lap.
Daniel Ricciardo was ninth, with Lance Stroll taking the final point on offer, holding off team-mate Sebastian Vettel on the final lap.
Joining Leclerc, Tsunoda and Zhou as retirees were Nicholas Latifi and Kevin Magnussen.
[motorsport_result id=’89051′]
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