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F1: Max Verstappen King of France!

2021-06-25T08:14:36.095Z


The world championship leader overtook Lewis Hamilton on the penultimate lap, thanks to a daring but profitable strategy.


The wheel has turned at Le Castellet, and it may be a taste of the rest of the season.

Max Verstappen, the current leader of the world championship won his first French Grand Prix this Sunday ahead of Lewis Hamilton and his teammate Sergio Perez.

He erases his biggest and only rival for the title from the shelves.

The Briton, who remained on two consecutive wins, could not resist Red Bull's surprising two-stop strategy, which ultimately paid off.

Despite his pole position, the Dutchman made the mistake at the first corner and was grilled politeness by the British world champion.

Bottas clings to the duo while Gasly, who retained his 6th place, is caught between the two Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz.

The two Alpine have experienced varying fortunes.

Alonso wins a place (8th), unlike Ocon.

The Spaniard is resisting the MacLaren of Ricciardo and Norris as best he can, but his tires are already worn.

He was passed on lap 12 by his two pursuers and then by Vettel in the next turn.

The passage to the pits for all the drivers will redistribute the cards.

Among the leading trio, Bottas came in first, so he had to take advantage of his new tires to get a head start, but it was Verstappen who did the right thing.

The provisional leader in the standings kept the advantage when Hamilton emerged from a straight line just behind him.

Red Bull's strategy paid off.

LAP 20/53



And it's tight as Hamilton exits but Verstappen gets ahead



Perez has yet to pit and leads the race!

#FrenchGP # F1 pic.twitter.com/1ZWJMpRxjo

- Formula 1 (@ F1) June 20, 2021

After stopping by Perez's stand, Verstappen has just one goal: to resist the two silver arrows.

It is more complicated for Charles Leclerc, in great difficulty after only 16 laps with his new tires.

The Monegasque left his place to his teammate then fell back to 12th position after being overtaken by Norris, Gasly, and Alonso.

Also read: Over-used bakers, camper drivers, nurse testers ... Eight things to know about the F1 French Grand Prix

In the duel for victory, Mercedes seems to accept that Verstappen is not reachable, except during the inevitable game of stops at the end of the race.

But Red Bull, which benefits from the new Honda engine for this French Grand Prix, surprises by already bringing in the Dutchman!

The Austrian firm is trying an incredible game of poker and Verstappen now has about fifteen laps to catch up on the two Mercedes.

LAP 52/53



Verstappen's done it!



He's overtaken Hamilton and leads the race # FrenchGP 🇫🇷 # F1 pic.twitter.com/8QR1oaO2kR

- Formula 1 (@ F1) June 20, 2021

And that's what he managed to do on the penultimate lap, after leaving poor Bottas behind and putting on the fastest laps.

Hamilton has to settle for the worst place and can only congratulate his opponent.

It is of course still too early to draw any definitive conclusions (there are 15 Grands Prix remaining) but the fight for the title is now well underway and will not lack spice, the Dutchman now having an 11 point lead.

On the French side, Pierre Gasly is 7th, ahead of Fernando Alonso's Alpine.

For Esteban Ocon, not at all in the game, it's a weekend to forget with a poor 16th place.

Source: leparis

All sports articles on 2021-06-25

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