Paul Ricard may be better suited to a test track than it is a bona fide race circuit, but it still offered a hot and difficult challenge to drivers over the French Grand Prix weekend.
While some team mates were evenly matched, others enjoyed wildly varying fortunes in what could be Formula 1’s final race at the unusual circuit.
Here are the RaceFans driver ratings for the French Grand Prix:
Lewis Hamilton – 7
Qualified: 4th (+2 places ahead of team mate)
-0.366s quicker than team mate in Q3
Finished: 2nd (+1 place ahead of team mate)
- Missed first practice as Nyck de Vries took over his car
- Secured fourth on the grid in qualifying behind Red Bulls and Leclerc
- Jumped Perez off the starting line to sit third in the early laps on mediums
- Pitted under Safety Car for hards, rejoining second behind Verstappen
- Ran off track at turn two after snap of oversteer on lap 32
- Kept Perez behind out of DRS range but slowly fell back from Verstappen ahead
- Ran alone in the latter stages, eventually finishing second, ten seconds behind Verstappen
- Revealed after the race that his drinks system had failed early in the race
George Russell – 6
Qualified: 6th (-2 places behind team mate)
+0.366s slower than team mate in Q3
Finished: 3rd (-1 place behind team mate)
- Out-qualified by Norris after mistake on final Q3 lap left him sixth on grid
- Passed Norris on opening lap but lost a position to Alonso
- Overtook Alonso on lap three to move into fifth behind Perez
- Pitted under Safety Car behind Hamilton but retained position for restart
- Dropped to fifth after being passed by Sainz on lap 30, then gained place back when Ferrari pitted
- Attempted late lunge on Perez at chicane for third and was adamant Red Bull driver should yield position
- Perfectly timed Virtual Safety Car restart to burst past Perez into third at turn 13 after green flag
- Held off Perez to claim final podium spot by less than a second
Max Verstappen – 7
Qualified: 2nd (+1 place ahead of team mate)
-0.159s quicker than team mate in Q3
Finished: Winner (+3 places ahead of team mate)
- Inside the top three in each timed session
- Ahead of team mate in every timed session
- Qualified second on the grid, a tenth-and-a-half ahead of team mate
- Held second place at the start
- Challenged Leclerc for the lead in the early laps but could not complete a pass
- Pitted for hard tyres on lap 16, inheriting the lead when Leclerc crashed
- Stayed out under Safety…
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