F1: Leclerc’s childhood mistakes make things easier for a flawless Verstappen who runs away

There were two different races French Grand Prix of Formula 1, which took place this Sunday on the circuit Paolo Ricardo of Le Castellet. The first, with a good fight for the lead and Charles Leclerc, who started first, led at a good pace, even if with Max Verstappen very close. And the second, which began after lap 18, after the Monegasque went off the track, crashed into the barriers – at low speed, without getting hurt – and signed a new abandonment. with the of ferrari out of competition, crazy max the spotlights were stolen. The Dutchman, who had not managed to overtake him at the start or in the first laps, inherited the lead and ran away: he dominated the rest of the race, without ever being threatened, and ended up celebrating his seventh win of the season.

With the victory, the driver of Red Bull and reigning champion has established himself as the championship leader and increased the distance in the standings with Leclerc, who is now 63 units. a huge differencewhich makes us understand how the scenario has changed for both in 2022, especially if we remember that the Monegasque, after scoring a 1-2-1 in the first three dates of the year in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia, had started leading and he had taken 46 in front of the Dutchman.

“We had a very good pace from the start and I was putting pressure on Charles but in this heat the tires overheat and suffer a lot and I only managed to make a move once. But he was unlucky and I took advantage of it. there I did my race, I took care of the tires and I managed to add a good victory “said Verstappen, who had last won in Canada in early June.

“If I keep making these mistakes, I will never be world champion”Leclerc said before leaving the French circuit, angry about the crash which, in the long run, could cost him much more than a retirement.

The two drivers deserve a separate paragraph Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton, who started fourth, stole third place at the start and finished second across the finish line, scoring his best result of the season and fourth consecutive podium in what was his 300th race in the premier class. And third George Russell, after beating Sergio Pérez with a great maneuver, who fell asleep at the restart after a Virtual Safety Carwith a couple of laps to go.

And also the Spaniard Carlos Sainz, who after starting 19th for a penalty, ran away, also fighting for a place in the top three and finished fifth, with the lap record in his possession.

The race

The departure suggested that the French circuit would be the scene of a fierce battle between Leclerc and Verstappen. The Monegasque defended his first place well when the light turned green and took the lead; but the Dutchman chased after him. The Red Bull car was much faster on the straight, but it was not enough to overtake it, because Ferrari, with a better pace in the corners, secured their position well in those sectors.

There was no lack of excitement in those first laps, because even Hamilton and Pérez, after the British robbed the Mexican of third place, were also engaged in a close fight.

Then came the fateful lap 18 for Leclerc. The Monegasque went wide at Turn 11, lost control of the car, spun and crashed into the safety barriers.. “I can’t give gas!”he anticipated before leaving the track as he felt very agitated, with his breath on the limit and about to explode, “Nooo !!!”he was heard screaming, full of rage, shortly after the crash.

Her reaction made him think at first that he had had a mechanical problem in the car. But shortly thereafter he did my bad in front of the media and accepted that the incident was his mistake.

“I tried to take too much on the outside, I probably put a dirty wheel somewhere, but it’s my fault and if I keep making mistakes like this I deserve not to win the championship. In Imola I lost seven points, here 25. … they escape the title by 32 points at the end of the season, I’ll know where they come from. And it is unacceptable “.he moaned, hurt and angry.

Leclerc’s crash was a plus for Verstappen. At the time of the crash, the Dutchman had dropped to seventh position after returning to the pits to change tires that were no longer performing due to wear (the thermometer reached over 50 ° C on the track before the race). And when the Safety Car appeared, while working to remove the Ferrari from the Monegasque, most of the drivers decided to stop. But crazy maxwho had already started to increase the pace on fresh tires, stayed on track and became the new leader.

From that moment on, the race was a monologue for the Dutchman, who with a hellish pace had no rivals and ended up crossing the line with more than 10 seconds ahead of Hamilton.

The Brit also came out well in the restart and was at ease in the rest of the test, because with no clear possibility of fighting for the victory he dedicated himself to taking care of his place.

In that last stretch, the most exciting thing was the fight between Pérez and Sainz for third place. On lap 42, he wheeled around the main straight, until the Spaniard managed to steal third place from the Mexican. But a couple of laps later, the Ferrari driver had to change tires and on entering the pits he had to serve a 5-second penalty, which was imposed on him for a dangerous pit exit, and dropped to eighth place.

Then he got into the podium discussion with Russell, who was looking for Pérez and got his chance on lap 50. After a Virtual Safety Carentered after Alfa Romeo from Guanyu Zhou will stay on the side of the track, Czech fell asleep at the relaunch and braked too much. The Brit accelerated first, overtook him and ended up giving Mercedes its first double podium of the season.

“It was a tough race. Our pace was very good, but at the beginning we struggled a bit with the tires. I was happy to see the checkered flag. Take home third place and two podiums for Mercedes. is fantastic”.commented Russel.

Happier was his teammate and rightly so. Because after a very difficult start to the season, Mercedes has achieved an important evolution of its car, which has gone from being “unmanageable”, as Hamilton himself defined it at one point, to being a permanent presence among the first.

“Reliability is one of the problems we work a lot on and without the whole team we couldn’t get on the podium. So I want to thank them. George did an amazing job today too,” said Lewis. “It was a really tough race, the water bottle didn’t work for me. But what a great result considering we have been so far behind these guys all weekend.”

From the incredible mistake of Leclerc to the indisputable triumph of Verstappen. From Sunday almost perfect for the podium of Mercedes and Hamilton in his 300th Grand Prix at Sainz’s race, who nearly saved the weekend for Ferrari and was elected Driver of the Day. The French Grand Prix had it all and left the Dutchman more leader than ever in the championship. Will you extend your lead in the standings next Sunday in Hungary?