After a 10-year absence from Formula One, the French Grand Prix makes its return to the pinnacle of motorsport, returning to the revived Circuit Paul Ricard which takes over from Magny-Cours. Join The Roar for a live blog of the race, starting from 12:10am AEST.
For the first time, the Le Castellet based track will lend its full layout to the grand prix, with the 5.8km layout boasting a complex spread of high and low speed corners.
Much of Circuit Paul Ricard though promotes power, with its straights and perhaps will be crucial come the 53-lap grand prix for overtaking opportunities.
Though, being a new circuit there is plenty of uncertainty given that the drivers have only had the practice sessions and qualifying to get a gauge of how well their cars are suited to the place.
One thing that has been certain so far, is that Mercedes AMG have been quite strong, courtesy of their power-unit upgrades this weekend. This has seen Lewis Hamilton claim his 75th career pole position, ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas.
1-point ahead of Hamilton in the championship, Sebastian Vettel ended qualifying only 0.3 of a second off the Briton’s best lap and will start the race from third for Ferrari.
Red Bull have both their cars fourth and fifth led by Max Verstappen and while they may not have the immediate pace on their side in comparison to the Silver Arrows, their decision to set their fastest Q2 laps on supersoft tyres could prove of strategic benefit in the race.
Strategically, the trend this season has been one-stop races and France appears no different with the soft, supersoft and ultrasoft tyres on hand. This is the second race too, that Pirelli have brought tyres with reduced tread depth by 0.6mm – which featured in Spain, where Mercedes AMG dominated.
Charles Leclerc was the star of Saturday, earning his first top ten berth in Formula One for Sauber. Starting eighth, the Ferrari junior driver can capitalise for big points.
The Renault of Carlos Sainz will start from seventh too, with the two Haas cars making up the rest of the top ten. A host of big names missed out on Q3, in the likes of Nico Hulkenberg and the Force Indias – whilst both McLarens failed to get out of Q1.
Saturday saw wet weather affect practice and qualifying, and there is the chance that it could rain during the race.
Tune into The Roar from 12:10am AEST for live blog coverage, as Formula One prepares for lights out in France.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
That then wraps up this live blog of the French Grand Prix. Thanks again for tuning in and be sure to join me again this time next week for the Austrian round of the Formula One world championship. Until then, au revoir!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
So that's the first leg of this triple header complete and Lewis Hamilton takes the honours as Sebastian Vettel is forced into damage limitation. Thoughts on the race Roarers?
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 145 - Lewis Hamilton 131 - Sebastian Vettel 96 -- Daniel Ricciardo 92 -- Valtteri Bottas 83 -- Kimi Räikkönen 68 -- Max Verstappen 34 -- Nico Hulkenberg 32 -- Fernando Alonso 28 -- Carlos Sainz 27 -- Kevin Magnussen 18 -- Pierre Gasly 17 -- Sergio Perez 11 -- Esteban Ocon 11 -- Charles Leclerc 8 --- Stoffel Vandoorne 4 --- Lance Stroll 2 --- Marcus Ericsson 1 --- Brendon Hartley 0 --- Romain Grosjean 0 --- Sergey Sirotkin
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 237 - Mercedes AMG 214 - Scuderia Ferrari 164 - Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 62 -- Renault Sport 40 -- McLaren Renault 28 -- Force India Mercedes 27 -- Haas Ferrari 19 -- Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda 13 -- Alfa Romeo Sauber 4 --- Williams Mercedes
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT Formula One’s first grand prix in France since 2008 has seen Lewis Hamilton claim victory for the first time on French soil, having led the incident laden race from pole position. The reigning world champion avoided the chaos at Turn 1, which had claimed his teammate Valtteri Bottas on the front-row of the grid and championship rival Sebastian Vettel, who ran into the Finn on the first lap – cruising to his third win of the season. Having then had to recover from the rear of the field, with the safety car deployed, Vettel was given a 5-second time penalty for causing the collision with the Mercedes AMG. That did not stop the Ferrari on the soft tyres, carve up the field as he went as high as fourth – before settling for fifth due to an additional pit-stop. Bottas’ recovery wasn’t as strong as the German’s, with the Finn only crossing the line in seventh despite having an upgraded Mercedes-Benz power unit on hand. Sixth could have arguably been on the cards, if the Silver Arrows had a smooth second pit-stop. Also succumbing to the first lap carnage were the French duo of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, whom were aggrieved by fellow Frenchman Romain Grosjean – later sanctioned with a 5-second penalty. Max Verstappen from fifth on the grid kept his head clear of the chaos and slotted into second on the first lap, then not to surrender that position for the remainder of the race. The same could not be said about Carlos Sainz, who was third at the end of the first lap, but found himself relegated by the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo following the safety car’s withdrawal. Despite reporting power issues, the Spaniard still led a double points finish for Renault on their home soil in eighth – with Nico Hulkenberg in ninth. Ricciardo was unable to hold onto third either, losing the position to a recovering Kimi Räikkönen who on supersoft tyres in his second stint was faster than the Red Bull on the soft tyres. The Aussie also suffered from front-wing damage, which ultimately allowed the Ferrari onto the podium. Another impressive outing for Charles Leclerc saw the Sauber driver consolidate tenth, after running as high as sixth once again through the race – surviving the first lap chaos and gaining positions from eighth on the grid. There was double the woes for Force India, losing Sergio Perez with engine troubles through the race. As was the case for Williams, who lost Lance Stroll near the end of the 53-laps with a tyre blowout and no points for Sergey Sirotkin. McLaren endured a difficult weekend, rounded off by no points scored by either Stoffel Vandoorne or Fernando Alonso, who was forced to make a second stop right at the end of the race – which did little to give the Le Mans winner any satisfaction.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
STANDBY FOR RACE REPORT AND UPDATED STANDINGS
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
POST-RACE INTERVIEWS - Hosted by Franck Montagny & Jean Alesi HAMILTON - "I feel grateful for a solid weekend." "This is a great day." VERSTAPPEN - "It was good, I tried to follow Lewis but he was controlling the pace." RÄIKKÖNEN - "Felt quite slippery at the first corner and I got a bit lost with all the mayhem." "A decent recovery to the podium."
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 53-LAP FRENCH GRAND PRIX 1 L. Hamilton 2 M. Verstappen 3 K. Räikkönen 4 D. Ricciardo 5 S. Vettel 6 K. Magnussen 7 V. Bottas 8 C. Sainz 9 N. Hulkenberg 10 C. Leclerc 11 R. Grosjean 12 S. Vandoorne 13 M. Ericsson 14 B. Hartley 15 S. Sirotkin 16 F. Alonso RET L. Stroll RET S. Perez RET E. Ocon RET P. Gasly
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
LEWIS HAMILTON WINS THE FRENCH GRAND PRIX! A subdued end to a chaotic race sees Max Verstappen in second for Red Bull. And after a poor start, Kimi Räikkönen will complete the podium in third for Ferrari.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 53/53: FINAL LAP VSC ENDS
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 52/53: 2 LAPS TO GO VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED There is a lot of debris on the track from Stroll's wreck. This ought to help Sainz out in P8 to reach the checquered flag.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 51/53: Yellow flags out in Sector 2, with Stroll having had a tyre blowout.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 50/53: Sainz reporting no power in the Renault! He loses two positions immediately to Magnussen and Bottas, with Hulkenberg and Leclerc also in the hunt now. They may be not fighting for the points, but Ericsson pulls off a move on Stroll for P13, as the Williams is now pursued by the Toro Rosso of Hartley.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 49/53: 5 LAPS TO GO Bottas now in with a chance to pass Magnussen for seventh, with the Mercedes AMG within a second of the Haas.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 48/53: If Ricciardo does have problems to nurse, then he has a cushy 30 second lead over Vettel in fifth as we near the end of the race. Alonso brought into the pits for a set of ultrasoft tyres, but rejoins the race in dead last. Perhaps some consolation fast laps for the man who won Le Mans 7 days ago?
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 47/53: Kimi gets the job done at the end of the Mistral straight and is onto the podium now!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 47/53: Vandoorne makes easy pickings of his teammate Alonso on those fresh ultrasoft tyres, and takes P12 off the Spaniard. Kimi trying some moves on Ricciardo now, as Dan goes onto the defensive.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 46/53: Ricciardo and Räikkönen negotiate the lapped Williams of Stroll, as the Ferrari hunts the Red Bull for that final place on the podium. Dan over 16 seconds behind Verstappen now, so perhaps there is a problem in his Red Bull.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 45/53: So the threat of rain doesn't seem to have eventuated then, as the laps tick down towards the end of the race. Räikkönen finds himself within a second of Ricciardo now, as the Red Bull struggles with pace versus the Ferrari. The battle for third on here between those two!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 44/53: HAM, +5.1 VER, +10.9 RIC, +3.0 RÄI, +.36.0 VET are the gaps between the top five.