Highlights of the French Grand Prix

Hamilton extends championship lead

The French Grand Prix was a low-key affair, with Lewis Hamilton delivering another masterclass in leading a race from lights to flag. The Mercedes driver got a good start from pole, and was able to maintain a steady lead over teammate Valtteri Bottas throughout 53 laps of the Circuit Paul Ricard.

The only hiccup for Hamilton came in the form of changing instructions from Mercedes, which had him remarking on the team radio: "Make a decision and stick with it!"

In the closing stages of the race, as Bottas struggled to manage wear on his front tyres, Hamilton extended the gap and eventually crossed the line with 18 seconds in hand. One of the only moments of tension at the front came on the final lap, when third-placed Charles Leclerc made a last-second attempt at overhauling Bottas as the pair approached the finish line. Bottas stayed ahead, and Mercedes’ sixth 1-2 finish of the season saw Hamilton leave France with a 36 point lead in the drivers’ standings.

Post-race penalty for Daniel Ricciardo

Another race, another result-changing penalty, albeit one unaccompanied by controversy. The last lap of a largely incident-free race at France’s Circuit Paul Ricard saw Daniel Ricciardo overtaking the McLaren of Lando Norris along the Mistral Straight with all four wheels off the track. In rejoining, Ricciardo was judged to have forced Norris to take avoiding action to prevent a collision. The Renault driver was also judged to have left the track and gained an advantage when he passed Kimi Raikkonen further up the Mistral Straight. In being penalised for both offenses the popular Australian was given two separate five-second time penalties, dropping him from seventh to eleventh on the timesheets and costing Renault six championship points.

Hard fight for Lando Norris

While the 2019 French Grand Prix will not enter the record books as a nail-biting affair, one strong performance could be found in the lower part of the points courtesy of McLaren driver Lando Norris. The rookie racer and teammate Carlos Sainz locked out the third row of the grid at Paul Ricard and maintained position towards the front of the pack for most of the 53 laps. But a late hydraulic issue for Norris saw car number four lose places over the last 20 laps as the Briton struggled to fight to the finish. Driveability issues including issues with the power steering and differential all linked to the hydraulics system dropped Norris back to ninth in the closing stages from what had been a comfortable seventh.