The 2022 French Grand Prix was an eventful race, particularly for Ferrari and Mercedes, as Mercedes bagged a double-podium. One of the problems with the circuit is that, although it might look fun to drive an F1 car here, the overtaking’s pretty difficult here as there are a lot of sweeping corners that make it difficult for the driver to overtake.
The Race
Ferrari had a clear pace advantage before Leclerc’s retirement. Both the Ferraris were faster than the rest. Some of the strategists will be questioning their decisions after this race. Charles Leclerc was responding to Max Verstappen pitting before him, on lap 17, but consequently made an unforced error while pushing. The issue wasn’t the throttle pedal that made him go off the track, but his own mistake, as he couldn’t correct the oversteer nature of the car.
After Leclerc’s crash Verstappen stayed out and inherited the lead, with Hamiton and Sergio Perez pitting. Sainz also pitted but Ferrari yet again show their operational deficiencies, and released Sainz in an unsafe manner leading to 5-second penalty that arguably cost Sainz a podium.
George Russell drove well, and completely caught Sergio Perez asleep during the final VSC. George made a highly cunning pass and created an opportunity for himself out of basically nothing – a sign of a world champion in making.
Lewis Hamilton is still behind George Russell in the points, but he’s driving at an extremely high level again. He was ahead of Russell all weekend and drove a flawless race.
Sergio Perez had a poor weekend. Not only was he passed by Lewis at the start, he was then outsmarted by Russell during the final VSC restart. In his defense it seemed as if there was a glitch in the VSC restart process. His His teammate Max Verstappen just managed the tyres beautifully and won with a margin. The length of the pit straight at Paul Ricard prevented Max from making another stop, so it shows tremendous confidence in his abilties.
Carlos Sainz started 19th and he went on an alternate strategy after the SC to pit for mediums, and near the end of the race made a stunning pass on Perez. Ultimately Ferrari pitted him after to serve penalty.
Sainz had good race pace, and was able to move up some positions at the end but couldn’t progress any further after passing Alonso. Pitting Sainz was a conservative choice and wasn’t the worst strategy decision. He is generally the most combative driver with the strategy team at Ferrari.He seems to actively and confidently able to tell Ferrari what he wants to do with strategy and that’s going to benefit him long-term.
Alpine have also passed McLaren in the constructors too. Mclaren need a better driver lineup, particularly with Ricciardo driving so poorly. They are paying him too much for this kind of mediocrity.
Aston Martin picked up a point courtesy of
Lance Stroll, but Seb was quick near
the end of the race, having managed his tyres
better and had to back out of the last corner as
Stroll brake-checked / intentionally parked the
car at the apex, to prevent him passing onto
the straight. Ultimately Lance passed Vettel at
the start, after the Ocon incident and that’s
where he stayed until the chequered flag. Haas and Alpha Tauri had a quiet race.
Drivers on the podium:-
1.) Max Verstappen
2.) Lewis Hamilton
3.) George Russel
