As expected, Lewis Hamilton with a new Mercedes engine, won easily at the 2018 French Grand Prix at the Circuit Paul Ricard. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen came home in a distant second and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was an even more distant third.
Hamilton was the pole-sitter for the race and led nearly start-to-finish – only ceding one lap to Raikkonen during a pit stop exchange – and was out front early, which happened to be fortunate as Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, starting on ultrasoft tires, was able to get a much quicker start. It was too good for Vettel, who ran up on Hamilton and then was squeezed in by Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas and ran into the back tire of Bottas. That hit gave Vettel a five-second penalty and also allowed Verstappen to go off-course and around all those involved without incurring a penalty to move into second place, where he sat for much of the race.
Both Bottas and Vettel had to take early pit stops to rectify their damage and Vettel eventually moved back through most of the field but could only get as high as fourth place before having to make a second pit stop and tire change.
With the victory, Hamilton retakes the Formula One racing season lead in the driver’s standings with 145 points to Vettel in second with 131 points and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo overtakes Bottas for the third position with 96 points.
2018 French Grand Prix Top Seven
1) Lewis Hamilton — Mercedes
2) Max Verstappen — Red Bull
3) Kimi Raikkonen — Ferrari
4) Daniel Ricciardo — Red Bull
5) Sebastian Vettel — Ferrari
6) Kevin Magnussen — Haas
7) Valtteri Bottas – Mercedes