Hamilton takes the championship lead with victory

Hamilton (Great Britain) won the race on Sunday in Le Castellet ahead of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen (Netherlands) and Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen (Finland). Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) ended up in the second Red Bull ahead of Vettel, who ended up fifth.

“I’m grateful for this weekend” "Now I'm where I wanted to be," said Hamilton after the race: "I'm grateful for this weekend. My team is pushing the limits further and further, they're doing a great job."

After the first Formula 1 French Grand Prix in ten years, Hamilton is again at the top of the World Championship standings, 14 points ahead of Vettel. After 8 of 21 races this season, both now have three wins each.

Vettel has the chance for revenge in the duel between the four-time world champions next Sunday in Spielberg, Austria, and a week later at Hamilton's home race in Silverstone. But that could be difficult for the 30-year-old. Because Hamilton and the Mercedes presented themselves in Le Castellet after the engine update in their old strength, after they had no chance with Vettel's superior success in Montréal two weeks earlier. At that time, the new engine was not yet available to Mercedes.

On the high-speed circuit near the Cote d'Azur, the Brit confirmed his convincing performances in training and qualifying thanks to the power plus. He got off to a perfect start from the 75th pole position of his career. Accident and punishment for Vettel But there was a bang behind him: Vettel had started from third place on softer tires than the silver competition and was hoping to be able to attack Hamilton and Bottas early on. But right in the first corner, Vettel's Ferrari and Bottas' Mercedes made contact. The consequences: The German dragged himself into the pits with a broken front wing, the Finn hobbled to change the tire with a broken rear wheel. Vettel was penalized five seconds for causing the accident. Even further back, the two Frenchmen Pierre Gasly in the Toro Rosso and Esteban Ocon in the Force India crashed in their home race of all places and were eliminated.

The safety car had to come out early and slowed down the field. “The first corner had nothing to do with me, right?” asked Hamilton. His command post was able to calm him down. At the restart on lap six on the modernized Cicuit Paul Ricard, he easily defended his lead from Verstappen and Ricciardo. Hamilton doesn't let anything go wrong Vettel started his race to catch up from 17th place: with the hardest tire compound available in Le Castellet, he was determined to drive for as long as possible. Just five laps later on the 5,842 long high-speed circuit, the Hessian was tenth in the points after an overtaking maneuver against his compatriot Hülkenberg. And his opponent Bottas, who had the accident, also continued to work his way forward.

Vettel was even in fourth place at one point. But as time went on, his tires began to deteriorate. He no longer had a chance against the competitors in front of him and, just to be on the safe side, he went out again to change his tires. It was no longer enough for more than fifth place. At the front, Hamilton continued his solo journey to a victory that was never in jeopardy. When Williams driver Lance Stroll was stranded two laps before the end with a puncture, the race management decided to use the virtual safety car. Victory for Hamilton was finally certain.

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Hamilton takes the championship lead with victory

Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has regained the lead in the world championship standings with victory at the French Grand Prix. However, he benefited from an early accident involving Sebastian Vettel. His Ferrari teammate Kimi Räikkönen at least made it onto the podium.

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