2022 looks to be his year Max Verstappenwho after going for the first time in the year without a win for more than one race, returned to victory in Formula 1: he triumphed without problems in the French Grand Prix after Charles Leclerc, who was leading, crashed on lap 18.

There was no race for the Red Bull driver when Leclerc was ruled outafter an excellent showdown between the two in the early rounds.

Lewis Hamilton is also celebrating, with his fourth consecutive podium in his 300th F1 Grand Prix: he had a very quiet race which saw him finish second for the first time this year.

George Russell completed the podiumwhich in the virtual safety car reset post won a Sergio Perez which practically gave him an unopposed third place at the time.

The 6th place was completed by the Spaniards Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso: The Ferrari man was fourth after starting 19th and had to serve a five-second penalty. He gave an excellent performance and was selected as the driver of the day. The Alpine rider also did a very neat job, unable to compete with Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull, but dominating the rest. Your teammate Steven Okon finished eighth.

French GP 2022 positions, distances and standings

Dropouts: Charles Leclerc, Yuki Tsunoda, Kevin Magnussen, Nicholas Latifi, Guanyu Zhou.

More | Follow Formula 1 exclusively in Spain via DAZN

2022 French Grand Prix Reactions

“No, It wasn’t a mechanical problem, or at least I don’t know yet if it was.. It doesn’t look like it was, it was just a mistake.”he stated Charles Leclerc before Autosport. “Obviously it’s hugely disappointing, I feel like I’m at the highest level of my career since the start of the season, but there’s no point in being at this level if I make these mistakes..

“What incredible weather we had, it was a very difficult race because my hydration system wasn’t working. what a great result considering we were away from them (Ferrari and Red Bull) all weekend.”he said Lewis Hamilton.

“We’re just trying to stay calm and stay close. It was bad luck for Charles, I hope he’s OK.”. Afterward, I just had to take care of the tires”he stated Max Verstappen.

“There was a problem with the Virtual Safety Car that they said would end at turn 9 and it didn’t (…) I don’t understand what happened, I think they had a problem with the tower. It cost us the podium. We didn’t have much competitive pace,” he said. Czech Perez before Fox Sports.

The summary of the French Grand Prix 2022, live and direct

Victory for Max Verstappen! The Dutchman returned to winning ways, his second in France in a row. Leclerc’s departure leaves Verstappen very comfortably at the top of the championship. Hamilton took another podium finish and George Russell, Checo Perez and Carlos Sainz completed the top five.

Round 51: Huge restart from Russell which allowed him to overtake Checo Pérez, who reacted late and surrendered the podium.

Round 50: Zhou stopped in a dangerous area: the virtual safety car came out. Sainz got away from Alonso and would finish fifth.

Round 47: Sainz moved up to sixth, has the fastest lap and will have plenty of time to try to overtake Alonso and finish in the top 5. The most important battle at the moment is between Pérez and Russell, with the Briton giving it his all to go. last step on the podium. Verstappen-Hamilton’s 1-2 looks safe.

Round 43: Sainz pitted, served his five-second penalty and fitted medium tyres. He is in ninth place, stuck behind Ocon.

Round 42: Eventually Sainz managed to pass Checo Pérez, in a very tight manoeuvre. Russell then came close to passing the Mexican, but he did it with contact, so he had to respect the place.

Round 41: With 12 laps to go, Verstappen’s lead over Hamilton is over eight seconds and Red Bull’s victory is not in danger unless something unexpected happens. The big thing that remains to be seen in the match is what happens to Sainz.

Round 39: An incident between Magnussen and Latifi that ended with the Canadian lost and the Haas driver out of the race after going through the pits.

Round 37: There is a battle between Norris, Ricciardo and Ocon for positions 7 to 9. Meanwhile, Sainz is already eight tenths behind Checo Pérez, on pace for the podium.

Round 32: Sainz overtook Russell to jump into fourth place, confident of a Ferrari that is performing exceptionally well and that, but for the five-second penalty remaining, would have already put him in contention for the podium.

Round 31: Verstappen has set two consecutive fastest laps and has a four-second lead over Hamilton, while Checo Pérez is two seconds behind the Mercedes driver. Pierre Gasly made a mistake in a corner and dropped three places in a black weekend for him, now in 15th place.

Round 27: Carlos Sainz is the fastest driver on the track and is close to having a chance to overtake George Russell. There is a five second penalty for Guanyu Zhou for the incident with Mick Schumacher.

Round 24: Five second penalty for Carlos Sainz for unsafe pit maneuver.

LAP 24/53

Carlos Sainz was penalized 5 seconds for an unsafe release on lap 19 #FrenchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/Cx5MkPMBp2

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2022

Round 22: Yuki Tsunoda was also out of the race. Verstappen set the fastest lap and Mick Schumacher dropped to 18th after contact with Zhou, who had to pit to change the front of the car. Sainz overtook Alonso and, on medium tyres, from fifth place he can at least hope for a podium finish.

Round 20: The French GP was renewed, with Verstappen, Hamilton, Pérez, Russell, Alonso, Norris, Ricciardo and Sainz in the top eight. There is already over a second gap between Max and Lewis.

Round 19: Verstappen moved into first place, while many drivers made tire changes under the safety car. Saige’s save was bad, he almost fell to Albon.

Round 18: Hitting the stage! Charles Leclerc lost control of the car, lost control in a fast corner and hit the tires. The Ferrari car is out of the race and there is a safety car.

LAP 18/53

CHARLES LECLAIR OUT OF THE GAME!!!

The Ferrari driver hits the wall at turn 11!#FrenchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/5SL5xQcmUc

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2022

Round 16: Verstappen was the first of the top drivers to pit, a quick 2.4 second stop to accommodate the hard tyres. The Dutchman was ranked seventh.

Round 13: Carlos Sainz overtook the two Aston Martin drivers and is already in the points zone: he is less than two seconds behind Daniel Ricciardo and can aspire to much more in this Grand Prix while Leclerc is now slightly clear of Verstappen after difference of more than one second.

Round 10: They also went through the pits to fit Schumacher and Zhou hard tires. The weather is very hot and it seems that the tires are wearing out faster than expected. Watch out for Sainz who is already close to the top ten. Alonso, meanwhile, doesn’t seem to have the pace to compete with Mercedes at the moment.

Round 9: The first driver to stop in the pits was Kevin Magnussen, who was 13th and dropped to last place, now on hard tyres.

Round 8: Leclerc’s great defense holds to prevent Verstappen from taking first place. The gap between them and Hamilton is now over six seconds, with Checo Pérez no longer within DRS distance of the Englishman. The Mexican was cautioned for going off the track twice at Turn 3.

vround 6: Leclerc’s gap to Verstappen is just five-tenths, with Red Bull very close on the straights, although they still don’t have a clear chance of overtaking. He only tried it for the first time in row number 11. Sainz and Magnussen, who started from the last row, continue to progress: they are in positions 13 and 12 respectively.

Round 4: With DRS on, Verstappen starts to push Leclerc even harder than before and is already going for the lead. More than four seconds behind them, Perez attacked Hamilton from close range, while Russell overtook Alonso to leave him sixth. Sainz is already in 15th place. Ocon was penalized five seconds for contact with Tsunoda.

Round 1: Yuki Tsunoda is the first driver in the race with one problem: he spun and came in last place. He was beaten by Esteban Ocon.

Clear exit without incident: Excellent start for Fernando Alonso who moved up to fifth, while Lewis Hamilton overtook Checo Pérez to move up to third. Verstappen did not challenge the position with Leclerc, who was comfortably in first place.

Welcome to Circuit Paul Ricardone of the most classic in southern Europe, near the city of Marseille in France, where the 20 Formula 1 drivers will fight for victory this Sunday.