Red Bull victorious over Mercedes thanks to strategy in fantastic French grand prix.
P1 – VER
P2 – HAM
P3 – PER
Podium Finishers
Red Bull took a page out of Mercedes strategy book in Spain with a thrilling two-stop strategy culminating in a well-earned victory for Max Verstappen. With just two laps to go, Verstappen took a thrilling victory over championship rival Lewis Hamilton in France.
Despite losing out to Hamilton at the start of the race, polesitter Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez executed a race to be remembered and one that Mercedes might want to forget.
Both Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas were understandably not the happiest of the bunch, especially as Bottas lost out on the podium to Perez in the final laps of the race.
Best of the Rest
The Finnish Mercedes driver was more vocal than usual over his radio, expressing frustration to his team that the race was a “two-stopper.” Finishing P4, Bottas was able to secure points for the first time since Spain, a much needed credit to the Mercedes constructors standings.
Lando Norris finished in P5, proving the young Briton a consistent forced to be reckoned with this season. It was a good day for the McLaren garage as his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, finished P6. The battle between McLaren and Ferrari is really starting to heat up!
Hometown hero Pierre Gasly ended P7, trailed by Fernando Alonso and the Aston Martin’s of Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll.
George Russell muscled his Williams to P12 – his best finish of the season thus far.
Frowns for Ferrari
It was a disastrous day for Ferrari, with drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finishing outside of the points in P11 and P16, respectively.
The Scuderia have a lot of homework to do in order to try and find the race pace for the remaining two races of the triple header.
Looking Ahead
The triple header continues next weekend at the Styrian Grand Prix. Will Red Bull be victorious once again on their home turf, or will Mercedes bite back? We’ll find out at the inevitably orange-donned Red Bull Ring next Sunday.
