The Le Castellet school leaving certificate

SEBASTIAN VETTEL: The German was aiming for two wins in one weekend, but in the end he was once again left empty-handed. The hope of Canada's subsequent success at the green table was finally gone on Friday because the race stewards did not gain any new insights from the evidence that was subsequently submitted. On the same day it was basically clear that Vettel would not be able to win in France. The technical updates from the Ferrari team turned out to be minimal progress at best, Mercedes is still far away. In Le Castellet the Silver Arrows were in a league of their own due to the route, and at the next race next Sunday in Austria Ferrari should at least be closer (also due to the route).

LEWIS HAMILTON: The five-time world champion - one is inclined to say - is still hovering above everything this season. The Brit has not yet managed six victories in the first eight races of the season with two second places. The Mercedes works everywhere, Hamilton has now also trimmed his teammate Valtteri Bottas, who started the season well, back to normal size. And that despite the fact that he took part in various fashion events in Paris on Thursday with the permission of team boss Toto Wolff and arrived in Le Castellet later than all 19 other drivers. Hamilton's fast laps on Sunday on fairly worn tires also suggested that he could have gone even faster.

VALTTERI BOTTAS: After four races the Finn was still just the championship leader, after eight he is already 36 points behind Hamilton - even though he has always performed well, with the exception of Montreal. It seems as if Bottas can only reach Hamilton levels over a short period of time.

MCLAREN: This has recently been led by the traditional racing team from Woking. In the first year after the departure of superstar Fernando Alonso, McLaren is having its best season in five years, the driver pairing Carlos Sainz/Lando Norris scored good points again in Le Castellet with sixth and ninth places, and the young duo even secured themselves in qualifying surprisingly the places in the third row of the grid - and thus left Vettel, among others, behind.

FRANCE GRAND PRIX: When the French race returned after ten years in 2018, there was great euphoria, great crowds - and great traffic chaos. For 2019, the organizer presented a completely new transport concept. How well this ultimately worked could not be seriously assessed: even on race day, the stands at the Circuit Paul Ricard were only half full, and many spectators said goodbye during the race.

SAYING OF THE WEEKEND: “When I arrived on Friday morning and heard that a video with Karun Chandhok was supposed to be the new evidence, I was pretty relaxed afterwards.” (Lewis Hamilton on the unsuccessful Ferrari protest. The Indian Chandhok, eleven-time Grand Prix starter, analyzes for Sky UK the Formula 1 races.)

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The Le Castellet school leaving certificate

In our section we are once again taking a closer look at the protagonists of the past Formula 1 weekend.

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