The events of the Canadian Grand Prix still have many talking, however its time for Formula One to put that behind and go racing again back on European soil in France. Join The Roar for a live blog from 11:10pm AEST.
2019 sees the second French Grand Prix since it returned to the calendar last year and the second race at the mesmerising 5.8km Circuit Paul Ricard.
It’s a 53-lap race on the fast and technical layout of the famous test circuit and one of the main talking points so far in the weekend, has been the tyres which the soft compound has been described as ‘melted chocolate’.
Unless the tyres are severely managed, it could be a two-stop race for some. Though look out for the leading the drivers who may have set their fastest Q2 laps on the medium tyre -to try and attempt a single stopper.
Mercedes AMG couldn’t be stopped however from another front-row lockout, with Lewis Hamilton this time claiming pole position ahead of his teammate in Valtteri Bottas.
Bottas has a 29-point deficit to Hamilton in the standings and the onus is very much on the Finn to inflict some kind of retaliation to keep in touching distance of his teammate and championship leader.
More than half-a-second behind the Silver Arrows was Charles Leclerc for Ferrari in third, who in turn qualified ahead of Max Verstappen in the Red Bull which has a power-unit upgrade this weekend.
The surprise from qualifying was to see McLaren as the best of the rest team and to have put themselves ahead on the grid of Sebastian Vettel, who starts the race from a lowly seventh and French manufacturer Renault – who have Daniel Ricciardo in eighth and Nico Hulkenberg thirteenth.
Career-best result in qualifying for Lando Norris in fifth, who heads up an all McLaren third row of the grid, ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz.
For the local drivers, it wasn’t the greatest of sessions as Pierre Gasly in the Red Bull was the best represented French driver in ninth.
Romain Grosjean along with the Haas outfit had one to forget, as the experienced Frenchman was eliminated in Q1 early on.
With another front-row lockout for Mercedes, can the silver juggernaut have their streak broken in 2019? And can anyone stop Hamilton making it four wins on the bounce?
Tune in on The Roar for live blog coverage of the French Grand Prix from 11:10pm AEST and see who will reign at Paul Ricard.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Not the most enthralling of races, however it is a short turnaround to the next GP in Austria next week. Thanks again for tuning in on The Roar for this F1 live blog. I will be back same time next Sunday for the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring. Ciao!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 187 - Lewis Hamilton 151 - Valtteri Bottas 111 - Sebastian Vettel 100 - Max Verstappen 87 -- Charles Leclerc 36 -- Pierre Gasly 26 -- Carlos Sainz 22 -- Daniel Ricciardo 17 -- Kimi Räikkönen 14 -- Kevin Magnussen 14 -- Nico Hulkenberg 13 -- Lando Norris 13 -- Sergio Perez 10 -- Daniil Kvyat 7 --- Alexander Albon 6 --- Lance Stroll 2 --- Romain Grosjean 0 --- Antonio Giovinazzi 0 --- George Russell 0 --- Robert Kubica
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 338 - Mercedes AMG 198 - Scuderia Ferrari 136 - Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 39 -- McLaren Renault 36 -- Renault 19 -- Racing Point Mercedes 17 -- Alfa Romeo Racing 17 -- Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda 16 -- Haas Ferrari 0 --- Williams Mercedes
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT It was a masterclass in France for Mercedes once again, as Lewis Hamilton led every lap from pole position to take a comfortable win at the French Grand Prix, ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas. The championship leader was untroubled at the front of the field and completed a single stop en route to a third consecutive win in 2019, as he firms his lead in the standings over Bottas – who had second threatened by Charles Leclerc on the final lap. A late Virtual Safety Car for a bollard on track, allows Leclerc in the Ferrari to close on the Finn though the Monegasque driver lamented the lack of laps remaining for not being able to pass the Mercedes. Behind the top three, Max Verstappen ultimately lacked the pace to take the fight to the podium places even with an upgraded Honda power-unit aboard his Red Bull. The Dutchman was comfortably ahead of Sebastian Vettel who after gaining places at the start – had the margin in fifth to pit on the penultimate lap for soft tyres and set the fastest time. More intriguingly was the best of the rest battle beyond the top five, with McLaren having converted their best qualifying since 2014 to a double points finish. Though it wasn’t the outcome they’d have hoped for, despite Carlos Sainz claiming sixth. Lando Norris who started fifth and took the ‘Driver of the Day’ honours, was challenged with hydraulics problems late in the race and raced hard to defend seventh from the charging Renault of Daniel Ricciardo. On the final lap however, Norris was passed by Ricciardo and consecutively by Kimi Räikkönen and Nico Hulkenberg – the latter two who ran long on their first hard tyre stints from outside the top ten to claim eighth and ninth respectively. Lance Stroll also ran the same strategy as Hulkenberg and Räikkönen, by running long into the first stint on the hard tyre and then pitted late for a set of softs. Though having had the leaders come through to lap him, the Canadian lost time in pursuit of his Racing Point teammate Sergio Perez in twelfth. Haas endured another dreadful race, lacking any sort of pace on the tyres that they’ve struggled all season long on. Romain Grosjean retired from his home grand prix late in the race, while Kevin Magnussen was seventeenth and only ahead of the Williams duo. Qualifying on the soft tyres ended up back firing for Pierre Gasly and Antonio Giovinazzi, as the latter ended up pitting early and running the hard tyres until the end of the race in sixteenth = whilst the under pressure Frenchman was eleventh and almost a minute behind where his Red Bull teammate finished.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
POST-RACE INTERVIEWS - Hosted by Martin Brundle HAMILTON - "Definitely a really good weekend." "I couldn't do it without this incredible team, we're creating history." BOTTAS - "Not much happening on my side." "Ultimately Lewis was much quicker today and I could not match his pace." "He [Lewis] is not unbeatable." LECLERC - "I gave it everything and the Mercedes was just too quick." "I saw an opportunity but there wasn't enough laps to try something."
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Some drama with the stewards again as they are taking a look at what happened at Turn 9 on the final lap between NOR, RIC, RÄI and HUL.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 53-LAP FRENCH GRAND PRIX 1 L. Hamilton 2 V. Bottas 3 C. Leclerc 4 M. Verstappen 5 S. Vettel 6 C. Sainz 7 D. Ricciardo 8 K. Räikkönen 9 N. Hulkenberg 10 L. Norris 11 P. Gasly 12 S. Perez 13 L. Stroll 14 D. Kvyat 15 A. Albon 16 A. Giovinazzi 17 K. Magnussen 18 R. Kubica 19 G. Russell RET R. Grosjean
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
LEWIS HAMILTON WINS THE FRENCH GRAND PRIX A grandstand finish for second place, as Valtteri Bottas completes another 1-2 finish for Mercedes AMG. And Charles Leclerc just behind the Finn to record back-to-back podium finishes.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 53/53: Norris then loses not one, but THREE positions on this final lap to Ricciardo, Räikkönen and Hulkenberg. Heartbreak for the young Briton.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 53/53: FINAL LAP Norris still holds that gap to Ricciardo, as Kimi and Hulkenberg are also behind. Leclerc actually within DRS range of Bottas here! Could we have a grandstand finish for second?
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 52/53: 2 LAPS TO GO Norris being lapped by Hamilton has now forced the McLaren back into the clutches of Ricciardo. It is only a 0.5 second margin. Vettel pits for soft tyres to attempt a fastest lap for that extra championship point.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 51/53: Leclerc gaining a little on Bottas with a 2.2 second gap between second and third. While Kimi is still holding Hulkenberg off for tenth.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 50/53: VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED Brief VSC deployment for that bollard to be recovered, which it has safely by one of the marshals.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 50/53: Bottas currently holds the fastest lap in P2, as Ferrari still have the time to bring Vettel in for an extra pit-stop to go after the fastest lap point. Yellow flags out for a bollard just rolling in the middle of the track.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 49/53: 5 LAPS TO GO Replays show that Kvyat finally got past Albon too for P14. Ricciardo gets lapped by Hamilton, as gifts Norris some extra margin now as he'll be counting down the laps till the end of the race.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 48/53: Hulkenberg starting to make a last ditch attempt to push Räikkönen out of his ninth place. Norris setting a best personal first sector as he tries to defend his seventh against Ricciardo.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 47/53: And as if matters couldn't get worse for Haas, Grosjean is told that he has to retire the car. Stroll not making any inroads then on his teammate Perez, as he is 6 seconds behind in thirteenth.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 46/53: Norris still holding a 2.6 second gap to Ricciardo in seventh, as McLaren advise him of the issues that he is currently facing. Backmarker in the way of Albon as he stays ahead of Kvyat for the time being.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 45/53: Hamilton advised by his team that Vettel in fifth has enough of a margin to make a pit-stop to go for fastest lap. Kvyat and Albon going wheel-to-wheel in what is looking like a nifty little inter-team battle.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 44/53: Norris being coaxed through some hydraulics issues on his McLaren as Ricciardo, Räikkönen and Hulkenberg are closing in on the papaya orange car.