FORMULA 1

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FORMULA 1 GREATS DOMINATE FRENCH GRAND PRIX RECORDS

Formula 1 greats Juan Manuel Fangio, Jim Clark and Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher are among those who ‘own’ the French Grand Prix record books, the historic race makes a welcome return to the world championship calendar after a decade of absence.

Schumacher holds the record for the highest number of victories all grands prix combined with eight wins on the Magny-Cours circuit (1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2006).

Fangio holds the record for the number of pole positions at the French Grand Prix as he set the fastest time in qualifying on five occasions (1950, 1951, 1954, 1956 and 1957) on the Reims-Gueux and Rouen-les-Essarts circuits.

Clark holds the record for the number of consecutive pole positions with four (1962-1965) set on three different circuits (Rouen-les-Essarts, Reims-Gueux, Charade).

Prost is the record-holder for the number of consecutive victories with three on the Paul Ricard circuit (1988 to 1990). They are also the joint record holders for the number of podium appearances (11) on French soil.

The Frenchman is also the record-holder for the number of consecutive victories with three on the Paul Ricard circuit (1988 to 1990). They are also the joint record holders for the number of podium appearances (11) on French soil.

In the teams’ and engine builders’ categories the Scuderia Ferrari holds all the records for the French Grand Prix with 17 pole positions, 17 victories (6 doubles), 48 podiums, 14 fastest laps in the race, 6061 km in the lead and 370 points scored.

The fastest French Grand Prix in the history of the race was the 1966 event on the Reims-Gueux circuit on which Jack Brabham averaged 220,322 km/h.

The closest finish also took place on this track in the champagne region when one second separated Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling at the chequered flag in the 1954 event: a scenario repeated in 1961 between Giancarlo Baghetti and Dan Gurney.

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Vasseur: Rebuilding an F1 team is a very complex task

During the weekend of the Canadian Grand Prix, Motorsport.com talked with Frederic Vasseur about his life as team principal of the sole Swiss Formula 1 on the grid today, Sauber.
Vasseur openly talked about his decision to leave Renault, his choice to cancel the Honda deal, and the restructuration of the Sauber technical department.

Born in 1968, Frederic Vasseur studied aeronautics and engineering before starting his career in the junior formula series, creating his own team, ASM; a team that became ART Grand Prix in 2004 when he teamed up with Nicolas Todt, son of FIA President, Jean Todt.

Vasseur joined Renault Sport to as team principal of the Formula 1 in 2016 but left after just one year to accept the challenge of running the Sauber F1 team.

What’s the first thing he did when he arrived at Sauber in Hinwil, Switzerland?

“From the outside, a Formula 1 team is a very complex animal. And you really realise how complex it is once you’re part of it,” he told Motorsport.com. “The first races I attended with the team last year gave me the opportunity to meet the people, its organisation, and I took a bit of time to look and discover this team that - honestly - I didn’t really know beforehand. Gradually, and towards the end of last year, I started to have a better picture of the team.”

Do you have more freedom at Sauber than you had at Renault?

“Sauber is not owned by a car manufacturer, so there’s no inertia caused by a constructor that owns a team and is part of the decision making, and which is directly involved with the financial aspect of running the team,” he explained. “For those reasons, the situation is completely different. What I do here matches my profile and interests because I’ve always been an entrepreneur at heart, and the job I have here fits me quite well.”

  

Vasseur admitted that running a Formula 1 was an objective on his career.

“As a competitor, I wanted to competed against the best in the business,” he said. “But as an entrepreneur, it was a lot more complicated, because the step in between racing categories is sometimes pretty big.

“For a race team to jump from Formula Renault to Formula 3 to Formula 2 is, let’s say, quite manageable because the teams are about the same size and equally complex. However, the step between Formula 2 and Formula 1 is almost impossible to take.

“When the FIA wanted to open things a bit back in 2010, we considered going F1 racing but we quickly realised it was extremely complex, financially and especially in terms of a structure as we needed to jump from 60 people in September to 200 in January.

“We had started working on the project, but when I see what happened to the people who tried to make the jump, I really think we made the right call at the time!”

After having spent time looking at the structure of the team, Vasseur was forced to make some difficult decisions in terms of personnel.

“The main problem with Sauber is that the team had suffered for a long time from financial difficulties and had lost quite a bit of people,” he explained.

“Rebuilding an F1 team is very difficult and time consuming. You have to hire new people, and most of the time, they work for other teams, they have to respect periods of gardening leave, so it takes sometimes months to have these new people in place. Even though we’ll only see the results in a year or so, we have to be patient because that’s how F1 works.”

Vasseur also cancelled the deal the Swiss team had with Honda.

“Sauber had a pre-contract with Honda at the time. But for various reasons, it was very complicated to get this to work because we didn’t have the capacity to make our own gearbox so we would have had to rely on McLaren for that but since the team was leaving Honda, it wasn’t easy at all.

“It was far from being smooth sailing. I quickly put a stop on that and we went back to Ferrari with whom we enjoy a good, solid and historical relationship. At roughly the same time, Mr. Marchionne wanted Alfa Romeo to make a return in F1, so we found an agreement to make it happen,” the Frenchman said.

Vasseur also said good things about his former junior formula driver Charles Leclerc, now driving for Sauber with reasonable and who claimed a sixth place finish in Azerbaijan back in April.

“Charles is making progress and he’s matching the growth of the team,” Vasseur confessed. “He has made a step forward since his first races when he needed some direction. He has improved, and he did pretty well in the last four or five races. The road is still long for him [smile], but things will continue to improve as we’ll have new parts for the car at the next race and we already put a lot of effort on the 2019 car because the new technical regulations offer us a nice opportunity to do well.”

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Renault's rate of progress "will say a lot" about F1

Renault believes its ability to catch Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull is an important test for the future of Formula 1, which is split into "two worlds" at the moment.
Since its works team returned for the 2016 season Renault has made swift progress and has established itself as the fourth best team on the grid this season.

However, it is a distant fourth behind F1's big three teams – both its drivers were lapped in last weekend's Canadian Grand Prix, while Renault has less than half the points tally of third-placed Red Bull in the constructors' championship.

Renault Sport F1 boss Cyril Abiteboul said that his team was "topping the second world, but we want to be part of the first world".

"I think the success or not of Renault will say a lot about the health of the sport," said Abiteboul.

"If a car marker like Renault, who in my opinion has the right people and right infrastructure, is not capable of moving from the second world to the first world, it says a lot.

"If we can't do it, no one will be able to do it. So, we are freezing the positions as they are.

"And I don't think it's healthy to have a sport where there is no capacity to change the positions and to have any new entrants coming, and so on and so forth.

"We need to look at Renault's progression, and limitation in our progression, as a clear sign of all the things that need to be done to change F1."

  

Abiteboul said Renault faces the "extremely challenging" task of outdeveloping F1's biggest teams.

It may be helped by the changes F1 bosses have planned for 2021, including efforts to level the financial playing field, which are designed to bring the teams closer together.

"That's something that all stakeholders really must look at," said Abiteboul.

"And I hope the new leadership of F1 is going to look at this issue very quickly and very strongly, because it's not positive, it's not a sport that we must have."

Williams technical boss Paddy Lowe also acknowledged the current two-tier system.

However, he did admit that "we can do a lot better than we have done with the material and the resources that we have available, so it's not in any sense an explanation for our current lack of performance".

He added: "I think if you look at the sport overall there clearly is a problem.

"I've noticed that some magazines have even started to talk about the Class A and the Class B grid. I think that's quite a bad sign. That is a frustration within the sport as a whole."

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French GP gets two DRS zones for return race

The returning French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard will feature two drag-reduction zones despite the FIA's push to use three at most races in an attempt to encourage overtaking.

The first zone has a detection point 75 metres before Turn 7 and an activation point 170m after Turn 7, running down to the Mistral Chicane.

The second zone will run down the main start/finish straight, with a detection point on the Turn 14 apex and an activation point 115m after Turn 15 – the final turn on the 5.8km circuit.

The FIA has also confirmed that the driver steward this weekend will be Yannick Dalmas, 1992 world sportscar champion, four times Le Mans winner and former Larrousse F1 driver. He will be joined by Enzo Spano, president of the sporting commission of the automobile and touring club Venezuela and regular steward Garry Connelly.

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FRENCH GRAND PRIX TECHNICAL PREVIEW

The Circuit Paul Ricard – venue of the French Grand Prix weekend, Round 8 of the 2018 Formula 1 World Championship – provides both teams and drivers with a very different challenge to the past two races, which have been held on narrow tracks, with walls in very close proximity to the cars.

That is certainly not the case in France, where large run-off areas dominate the track perimeter. Additionally, all personnel involved are faced with the prospect of a new circuit on which very limited data is available.

Downforce vs Drag

Being a new circuit, there will most likely be a little more experimentation than normal during practice on different downforce levels in order to obtain the optimal compromise between straightline speed down the three long full throttle zones and performance in the multiple high-radius corners. This circuit is quite top speed and power dependent, something which one can garner from looking at the track map, favouring a downforce level more akin to that run in Canada than Monaco.

Car Strengths Needed

The circuit has a variety of corners, something which makes it an ideal test track in much the same way as Barcelona. Therefore, all aspects of a car must be performing as expected, including Aerodynamic downforce in the high-speed corners and mechanical grip in the slower speed ones.

Key Corners

The quality of a driver’s exits from Turns 6 and 15 will be critical in determining overtaking possibilities on to the ensuing DRS-assisted straights, with the latter in particular requiring good traction. In addition, Turn 11 is a long right-hander, approached at over 300km/h, and requires a double apex line, together with the dual presence of braking and turning. It is critical to have a well-balanced car through here, and Aerodynamic downforce is also paramount.

Tyres and Strategy

Pirelli returns to the US-SS-S allocation for the first time since Azerbaijan. This is probably a slightly conservative selection given the uncertainty of arriving at a new venue without significant data from the current generation cars – only a little F1 testing has been done at Paul Ricard since the start of 2017. Pirelli’s conservatism is evidenced by the bias towards Ultrasoft tyres in the driver selections below. As with most races this year, a one-stop is likely, especially given the fact that the track was recently been resurfaced, lowering degradation yet further, in a similar manner to Barcelona. Due to the new tarmac, Pirelli is bringing tyres with a revised tread depth that is 0.4 mm lower than normal, as was the case in Barcelona. These tyres will also appear for Silverstone.

Overtaking/DRS

There are a reasonable number of overtaking opportunities around Paul Ricard, most notably into Turns 1 and 8, the latter being the favoured spot due to the heavy braking zone that precedes the corner. It is also possible that drivers can get themselves into a position to overtake using the DRS zone down to Turn 8, before completing the pass on the following straight. The difficulty in passing other cars is, however, increased by the presence of long, medium speed corners, which are particularly taxing for a car following in dirty air.

Weather

All three days are generally expected to be dry, although there is the possibility of rain showers on Saturday afternoon, for qualifying. Of note is that the temperature on Friday is set to be five degrees Celsius warmer than for Saturday and Sunday. Given the sensitivity of the Pirelli tyres, teams will be required to optimise their set-up accordingly, and this could result in some unpredictability.

Form Guide

Given its performance in Barcelona, the low tread tyres being brought to Paul Ricard, and the presence of a new, upgraded power unit, Mercedes must surely be the favourites for this weekend. Red Bull may suffer more than in Barcelona due to the straightline speed dependency of the circuit, aiding Ferrari.

As has been true for the entire season, the midfield should remain tight, although the leaders in this part of the grid appear to be Renault and Force India, with McLaren struggling in recent races. However, armed with their major upgrade from Canada, Haas will look to bounce back on what should be a better circuit for the American outfit, with a number of medium-high speed corners, where the VF-18 excels.

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For LE MANS & ALONSO FANS: Le Mans 24 Hour: Full Highlights

The 86th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours witnessed some fantastic moments, check out the full highlights here!

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ABITEBOUL: IT’S A HAPPY SITUATION FOR EVERYONE

Before Red Bull chose to ditch Renault to pursue a Formula 1 engine partnership with Honda, the French manufacturer made a last-ditch effort to convince the energy drinks outfit that they could win world championships together and after the announcement warned they would be made to regret their decision.

Since then emotions are clearly back in check, as Renault F1 chief Cyril Abiteboul took a more moderate stance when he told Sky, “I think it is good that we are moving on.”

“When Renault came back in 2015 and it was clear somewhere down the road it would have some impact on the Red Bull relationship. So to a certain degree, it’s the last element of our strategy moving on from being an engine supplier a couple of years before and now being a works team.”

“So that will allow us to focus on the works team. No more distraction, no more excuse, not to deliver with the works team and that’s what matters.

“Also Red Bull has found a way forward with a new partner and they are also back as a works team, which I think is a status that mattered a lot to them.”

“It’s also great news for Honda who found a customer base which is good and strong enough that they can justify the cost of being in Formula 1 and they will see it for themselves. I think it’s a happy situation for everyone.”

Red Bull boss Christian Horner said the decision to partner with Honda was based on the engineering elements they found more attractive with the Japanese automotive giant.

Abiteboul was asked Horner’s comments this and replied, “I think he’s talking about what can happen in the future and it’s difficult to disagree on what’s maybe going to happen maybe in the future. We will see,” said Abiteboul. “But it will be difficult to see what they would have done had they stuck to Renault.

“What I can say is it’s also a plan that is happening the way it was supposed to be. What was agreed last year with Helmut [Marko] and Christian was that we would terminate with Toro Rosso at the end of 2017 and Red Bull at the end of 2018.

“So it’s more the confirmation of a plan that was engineered a while ago when there was no data about the Honda engine and no data about the Renault engine today. I still believe we have the upper hand as we’re talking today, the rest is very much speculation about what we will be doing this year and next year and what Honda will be doing.

“Clearly the direction of things for Honda is positive, much more reliable, and it seems also that they have done a step.”

“I still believe that we are more competitive and the success of Red Bull on track – and, touch wood, there will be more of that – in the rest of the season and we will be doing what we can to make sure that we continue to deliver in accordance with what they expect.”

“I think this is showing what the engine is capable of doing. For the rest, they have made their bed so they need to lie in it now.”

The final ‘divorce’ is done on paper but the reality is that until November the ‘couple’ have to share the ‘house’ together and Red Bull can be contenders with two wins in the first seven races.

The question of how the two parties will tackle the final stretch in the wake of the split, “We have to have a discussion regarding IP [Intellectual Property] and confidentiality. We know what their plan is for the future, they are going to be a competitor, and also Honda and Renault are not really partners in the road-car business.”

“We do have sensitivity and we will have to talk about the way we are going to execute the rest of the season. I hope we will find some form of common sense and middle ground between the service we can deliver but also sensitivity regarding IP.”

“I’m sure that everyone will understand given the vast amount of effort and investment we are putting into developing next year’s and this year’s engine.”

“The way we are working with Red Bull is extremely integrated, they have access to everything at least as we speak now, and we have to see if we have to adjust some of our practices.”

Abiteboul vs Horner has always been a headline grabber, the pair not shy to slug it out through the media on many occasions over the years.

“We are fine,” insisted Abiteboul. “We have got respect but we are just super competitive and extremely loyal to our organisation, him to Red Bull and me to Renault.”

“I think we understand and appreciate that relationship and I’m pretty sure we will be able to have some beer and laugh about that in future,” added Abiteboul.

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MARKO: MCLAREN OFFERS RICCIARDO MORE MONEY EVERY WEEK

Reports have emerged in Germany claiming that Daniel Ricciardo has been offered a multi-year deal to race for McLaren when his contract runs out with Red Bull at the end of the year.

The Australian is in the throes of a strong season in which mature drives have pocketed him two victories in seven races, his stock is at the highest it has ever been and with seats supposedly open at Ferrari and Mercedes he is now the hottest property on the driver market.

Now, Sport Bild reports that McLaren have offered Ricciardo a $20-million per year deal which would put him up there with the big earners in the sport.

Currently the 28-year-old is on $6-million per year from Red Bull, while his younger teammate Max Verstappen is pocketing $10-million.

This latest development comes hot on the heels of Red Bull confirming a split with Renault and announcing their partnership Honda from 2019 for at least two years.

It also follows Fernando Alonso’s victory at Le Mans with Toyota at Le Mans and talk that he is contemplating a move to Indycar in his quest for the Triple Crown of Motorsport.

Ricciardo has been biding his time to see how the landscape pans out and will be pondering his future in the wake of the Red Bull and Honda union.

His decision is: to either stay with the team that has fostered his career are winning at the highest level or move to McLaren in the state that the once mighty team is now in but at the same time bank a hefty pay packet for his services.

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko knows that their driver has the high ground, “Daniel Ricciardo is the king of the market.”

“McLaren offers him more money every week, but above all some people in Mercedes would absolutely want him to join their team,” revealed Marko.

Marko has made no secret that he believes Mercedes and Ferrari would not provide Ricciardo with equal tools to Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel to get the job done. No doubt a theory he has pounded relentlessly into the Aussie’s ear.

This reported McLaren offer ups the ante of an interesting poker game, the result of which will have a telling impact on the future of some pretty big Formula 1 teams. Should Ricciardo accept then some interesting questions arise:

• Will he partner Fernando Alonso or Stoffel Vandoorne or Lando Norris?
• If it’s Alonso, then what about Vandoorne and Norris?
• Will McLaren trade Norris for Ricciardo?
• Would this mean a recall of Carlos Sainz from Renault to partner Max Verstappen?

Intriguing times lie ahead as Formula 1 readies for a substantial shift in the balance of power that has existed in Formula 1 for the past decade, with Ricciardo now the next piece of the puzzle.

MIKA: If Alonso leaves, I can quite easily see (Should Dan join McLaren), being paired with Lando Norris. Vandoorne has not impressed whatsoever.

Personally, money is great thats for sure, but whats the point of $20 MIL in a lemon, not winning races or even a snif at a WDC versus, staying with RBR, having them match Verstappens salary and possibly winning that WDC down the line. Just my thoughts. 

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VERSTAPPEN: I BELIEVE IN THE HONDA DEAL IT’S EXCITING

Red Bull’s decision to switch from Renault to Honda power for at least the next two seasons looks a positive step for the Formula 1 team, according to their young Dutch driver Max Verstappen.

The 20-year-old race winner, who has a contract for the duration of the deal, also told reporters at the French Grand Prix on Thursday that the announcement came as no surprise.

Verstappen added that he had visited Honda’s engine factory in Japan last year already and had been impressed with what he saw.

“Looking at the performance they showed this year, the improvements they made and especially in Canada again, it looked all very positive,” he said.

“They keep developing, they keep putting people in the right places.”

The youngest race winner in Formula One history, with three career victories so far, Verstappen is seen as a future champion but the Honda engine has underperformed since the Japanese manufacturer returned with McLaren in 2015.

A similar lack of reliability at Red Bull would be a major setback to Verstappen’s hopes as well as to the army of Dutch fans swelling the crowds since his arrival on the scene.

While the McLaren-Honda partnership ended badly at the end of last year, Honda have shown significant improvement at Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso.

They introduced an engine upgrade in Canada two weekends ago that helped Toro Rosso’s French driver Pierre Gasly go from the back row of the grid to 11th place.

“I believe in it and the team clearly believes in it because they signed the deal,” said Verstappen of Red Bull’s decision. “And it’s exciting as well.

“You have basically Honda working for Red Bull and Toro Rosso only, so it’s purely really designed around your car. I think that also is very good.”

Verstappen said Red Bull had kept him fully informed along the way as the negotiations progressed.

His father Jos was a test driver for Honda’s Formula 1 project in 1998 and would have raced for a planned team until the death of technical head Harvey Postlethwaite led to a change of plans.

“It’s a nice coincidence,” Verstappen junior said of the renewed family Honda connection.

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RICCIARDO: IT PROBABLY DEPENDS ON WHAT FERNANDO DOES

Daniel Ricciardo expects Red Bull to ramp up discussions regarding a new contract now that they have sorted their engine supplier, amid talk of interest in the Australian’s services from Formula 1 rivals McLaren as well as Ferrari and Mercedes.

The 28-year-old Ricciardo, winner of two of the last seven races including the showcase Monaco Grand Prix, is a free agent at the end of 2018 and mulling his options.

Red Bull, who have 20-year-old Dutch driver Max Verstappen on a long-term deal, this week announced they were switching from Renault to Honda from 2019 and are now turning their attention to completing the driver line-up.

“I haven’t been pushed yet but I would say there will be a bit of movement probably in the next week,” Ricciardo told reporters at the French Grand Prix.

“Ideally for them, they’d want something sooner rather than later. Probably in the next two weeks would be ideal for them,” he added.

“For me personally, I think it would be nice to go on the summer [August] break knowing what I’m doing, so then I can actually enjoy.

“If I’m on the phone for two weeks of the August break, trying to still figure out my future, it probably won’t be that good.”

Asked about media reports, quoting Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko, that Renault-powered McLaren had made a $20-million approach, Ricciardo joked it was not enough. He did not rule anything out, however.

“Everyone’s talking about Mercedes and Ferrari as potential places for me to go but I’m aware there’s obviously going to be interest from other teams and I guess McLaren is probably one of them,” he added.

“It probably depends as well on what Fernando [Alonso] does, if he stays or if he goes. If he does go, then I guess they will probably want a more experienced driver to come in. I guess we’ll see.”

Asked whether he was talking with Ferrari and champions Mercedes, Ricciardo said he was not personally but acknowledged his management might be, “I don’t know. People talk, people have coffees and stuff. And Red Bulls.”

The Australian said his priority remained to be in a car with championship potential, and he would not make a change just for the sake of it, but recognised there was an attraction in joining a team on the rise.

“Obviously McLaren and Renault aren’t there today but maybe they will be there in a year or three years’ time. You never really know,” he said.

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2018 France - Drivers Press Conference

 

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HAMILTON: ENGLAND DESERVE TO WIN THE WORLD CUP AGAIN

Lewis Hamilton has joined the hordes of England football fans dreaming of World Cup glory for the Three Lions this summer – even if England’s campaign is likely to disrupt his preparations for Sunday’s French Grand Prix the Mercedes driver believes it’s time for them to win the cup they last won 1966.

The race, exclusively live on Sky Sports F1, has been moved back to a start time of 3.10pm in order not to clash with the England v Panama group match earlier on Sunday afternoon.

But Hamilton knows he won’t be able to avoid the match as he and his Mercedes team prepare for the race at the Paul Ricard circuit.

“It’s going to be a little harder to focus on the race because we will be watching,” said Hamilton. “The game will be on in TV here and l am sure my guys will try to keep an eye on both things at the same time – as will l.

“Naturally, every time this championship comes around you hope for something special to happen for England. In my lifetime it’s not been great for us. But we have a good team and England deserve at some time to win the World Cup [again].

“And it’s exciting to watch. Every time l was driving around at home last week the games were on everywhere. ”

“Winning the World Cup is a dream for every kid and I am privileged that I am here in F1,” the Mercedes driver added. “I am very proud to be a Brit. As soon as I won the world championship last year, I grabbed the flag.

“To be able to represent your country, and be at the top of the sport, like we are hoping the England team will be, is an honour and a privilege – and I am grateful for that.”

Hamilton, the only British driver on the current F1 starting grid, was at school with England and Manchester United wing-back Ashley Young although the two have not stayed in touch and Hamilton has always declared himself an Arsenal fan.

“I remember seeing how he was an awesome player as a kid and to watch his success as he’s grown older, the ups and downs he’s had, and to see someone else come from Stevenage and doing well I think is really awesome,” he said.

“Another inspiring character, again showing that you can come from nowhere…he came from nowhere just like me, almost the same street and now he’s representing the country which is great.”

Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari engineers are unlikely to have similar distractions in the coming weeks, with Italy failing to qualify for the World Cup finals, although the German — a keen football player — might struggle.

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HAMILTON: NOT WORRIED IF WE HAVE TO USE THE OLDER ENGINE

Mercedes kept everyone guessing on Thursday whether Lewis Hamilton will have an engine upgrade for the French Grand Prix but the Formula 1 world champion claimed he was not sweating no matter what is in store for him.

The Briton and teammate Valtteri Bottas are due to have fresh engines for Sunday’s eighth round of the championship, with the rules limiting drivers to three power units for the 21-race season.

The upgrade was supposed to have been introduced in Canada two weekends ago but was postponed late in the day due to a ‘quality issue’.

A Mercedes spokesman said the plan was to have it at Le Castellet but final confirmation would not come until Friday practice.

“The championship is all about tiny margins,” Hamilton told reporters on Thursday. “I don’t know what the team have planned for me.”

“The fresher engine this weekend will be great as it will have more power than the one I used at the last race. I trust the team, and if we have to use the older-specification engine, I am not worried.”

The older-specification engine would still be a fresh one but its use would preclude the introduction of an upgrade for another seven races, unless a penalty was taken.

Hamilton is a point behind Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, both of them four-time world champions, ahead of Sunday’s race which is the first French Grand Prix in a decade and first at Le Castellet since 1990.

The track shares some characteristics with Barcelona, where Mercedes were dominant earlier in the year, but practice will be more important than usual given the lack of past data.

Vettel said he did not think the engine upgrade, if it happened, would necessarily make a big difference to the outcome.

“I believe they’re very strong no matter what…some races suit you a bit better for some reasons and others don’t,” he told reporters.

“Even if they stay with that engine, with that advantage they’ve had in that race (Barcelona) we can all put a lot of horsepower and a lot of downforce and our car still would lack pace compared to them.

“Is it all in the car? All in the engine? I don’t think so,” added the German, the only driver to have won three races this year.

“They had obviously a great weekend (in Barcelona) and everybody else was a little bit behind. Other weekends it’s been the other way around, so we’ll see how it’ll be this week and then the weeks after.”

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VETTEL: WE’RE WORKING HARD TO HAVE MORE UPS THAN DOWNS

Sebastian Vettel arrives at Circuit Paul Ricard leading the world championship standings by one point after enjoying a return to the top step of the podium last time out in Canada and believes that his team’s form should carry over for the French Grand Prix this weekend.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday at Le Castellet, Vettel said, “A lot of races coming in the next couple of weeks but generally it’s positive. If you look back and look at the big picture, we’ve had seven races and we’ve won three of them. So it’s not bad.

“The fact we have been competitive in most of them makes us quite confident for the next races. In some races you find yourself being more competitive than others, probably [for Ferrari] you can pick Canada versus Spain. Spain was probably our least-competitive race.”

“It’s normal to have ups and to have downs but we’re working hard to have more ups than downs. It’s wise to go step-by-step.”

Ferrari were on the back foot in Barcelona last month when Pirelli were forced to revise their tyres for safety reasons. The tweaks appeared to impact Ferrari the most. They were trounced in Barcelona by a resurgent Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes.

In Monaco, the Reds had no answer to the Red Bulls but pulled it back admirably with Vettel’s victory in Canada a couple of weeks later. The Scuderia arrive in France on a high

Vettel refused to blame the changes to tyres for the temporary loss in form, “All those [questions] have been answered after the race in Barcelona and the test. I don’t think it makes a difference, it’s the same for all of us.”

“It’s a lot more difficult here to know what to expect because we’ve never been here properly. Same with all the teams at the same time on the same track layout – because there’s quite a lot here – so we will see how we get going.”

“I don’t see a reason why we should struggle, so we should be fine here. But to know exactly what to expect? I don’t know.”

“I have never properly used this layout that we are using now. I have been here before but 10 years ago when we used to short version to prepare for Monaco, and we had a wet test two years ago.”

“Looking forward to get on the track and see how it feels. It’s not an easy one to find your way round because many places look the same!” added Vettel with reference to Paul Ricard’s six circuit variations.

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Sainz Jr.: Red Bull/Honda deal changes nothing for my future

Carlos Sainz Jr. says Red Bull’s impending switch to Honda power changes nothing with regards to his future in Formula 1.

Sainz Jr. was backed through the junior ranks by Red Bull and stepped up to Formula 1 with Toro Rosso in 2015, though angled for a move elsewhere through last year.

Sainz Jr. was eventually permitted to leave for Renault on a loan basis, as part of the engine manoeuvres involving Red Bull, Renault, McLaren, Toro Rosso and Honda.

Red Bull, though, will switch to Honda power next year, joining sister team Toro Rosso, severing its long-term partnership with Renault.

“I don’t think it changes anything on my future,” Sainz Jr. said.

“I think last year, maybe the engine deals affected my future. This year, I don’t think my future depends on engine deals.

When asked on whether Daniel Ricciardo’s choice would have an impact, Sainz Jr. retorted: “I’m pretty sure I will also have an influence on my future. I’m probably more dependent on Red Bull than Ricciardo.

“At the same time, Red Bull is the one who has an option on me to get me this year, and I’m depending a bit on that option.

“I think everything is going to develop from now one after this engine deal, and we’ll see what happens.”

Sainz Jr. also downplayed suggestions that Renault could lose out as a result of losing Red Bull as a benchmark for its engines.

“I think that the team is very conscious of where we are,” he said.

“I think thanks to this year, these last two years next to Red Bull, we probably know where this team is lacking that last step or two to become a top team.

“I think from here onwards we don’t need that figure anymore because we know perfectly where we are and where this team needs to improve.”

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Charles Leclerc: Too soon for Sauber to always target points

Charles Leclerc believes it is premature for Sauber to aim for a points finish at each Grand Prix, in spite of his recent strong form.

Leclerc scored a stellar sixth position in Azerbaijan and followed it up with 10th-placed finishes in Spain and Canada, bookending a retirement at his home race in Monaco when a brake disc failed.

While downplaying the chance of battling for points in each race, Leclerc reckons Sauber is now in a position to view Q2 as an attainable target, having made it through to the second phase across the last four events.

“I think we managed to take our opportunity whenever we have one door open, this is the most important [thing], it’s what we have to do this year,” he said.

“I think our target is changing slightly race after race, now I think we can target realistically Q2 even though we are still on the limit of it, but I think we can target it realistically.

“For now I will not target realistically yet points every race as we are still working on it and hopefully we can improve, but this is not the level we are at the moment.

“But we are getting closer and I can really feel the progress we are making race after race.

“It’s great motivation for the whole team and also on my side to be able to fight for points in some races is a great push for the future.”

Leclerc stressed that making Q2 comes down to “taking the opportunity”, due to the tightly-congested nature of Formula 1’s midfield group.

“Weekends after weekends we can see a difference in terms of teams going up and down,” said Leclerc.

“I think Williams are in a bit of a bad place at the moment, struggling at the moment, so hopefully we can keep them behind, but in Formula 1 everyone improves.

“It’s about taking the opportunity in qualifying with the right lap at the right time, with the other teams it’s difficult, it’s up and down.”

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Sergio Perez: Financial issues compromising Force India updates

Sergio Perez has suggested that Force India’s development path in Formula 1 this season is being hindered by ongoing financial issues.

Force India holds sixth position in the Constructors’ Championship but the team’s future financially remains uncertain, a situation Perez says is being felt in terms of development.

“We were expecting more [development] to be honest,” said Perez.

“But I’m happy that we’re still in the fight with the midfield group. But we certainly were expecting more upgrades than we’re having at the moment.

“The quantity we expected to… I mean we had the upgrades, but there have been some issues financially that we just… They were held back, and given how close the midfield group is, it’s important that you try to bring as many as you can.”

When asked whether he felt the situation would improve, Perez said: “I hope so, I really hope so. I really hope that it can get better in the next coming races.

“There are no guarantees that things are going to turn around, and all of a sudden we will be in a better position. I just hope that things can be resolved quicker within the team and we can have upgrades soon.”

Perez feels that Force India could be in a position to regularly challenge Renault at the helm of Formula 1’s midfield – if it can bring its planned updates.

“At the moment, we were not able to bring the upgrade we were hoping to bring for this weekend that will probably get us there,” he said.

“I think Renault have been the most consistent in the midfield at the moment, but we’re not far from them. A step in performance will mean a lot.

“I don’t think they’re [Renault] dominating at the moment. They’re certainly the most consistent, right there at the top of the midfield, but it’s a long season ahead. If we’re able to bring some performance in the next couple of races, then it can change.”

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Aston Martin: No name clash with Honda's Red Bull switch

Red Bull title sponsor Aston Martin says the team's switch to Honda engines in Formula 1 next year has caused no concerns about brand confusion.
After more than two years where the team's renaming of Renault engines to TAG Heuer has avoided having two car makers in its title, Aston Martin will now have to share space with Honda next season.

But although having two different car manufacturers in the title of the team may appear confusing to some, Aston Martin is adamant that there is no issue for it on this front.

Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer told Motorsport.com: "Very clearly, the team name is Aston Martin Red Bull Racing and then of course the FIA adds the [engine] manufacturer name.

"But let's be brutally honest. While it was called TAG, everybody knew it was a Renault. And in that sense, the difference between whether it is a Renault or a Honda?

"Aston Martin has zero cross shopping with both brands. So we are completely indifferent to the name."

Palmer says that Aston Martin was consulted about the decision to switch to Honda for next year, and made it clear it was fully behind any move that could help the team be more competitive in the future.

"Look, if it was a Ferrari engine I would have a problem! And that would be a red line," he said.

"But our customers don't cross shop us with either Renault or Honda, and basically can I say that Honda is more of a problem than Renault covered up with the name of the TAG? I honestly don't think so.

"We've known about it for a while and we fundamentally agree with where Red Bull wanted to go. Let's be clear: we don't have a veto, we were simply part of the consultation process and that is part of the philosophy by which we go Formula 1 racing.

"We think it is generally better that experts in Formula 1 go racing than owning your own team.

"The criteria for us is a very simple one: which is do everything you can to win. And clearly the team felt that by going over from Renault to Honda, it is going to give them a better chance of winning. In that sense, I commend the decision."

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Ferrari ready to replace Raikkonen with Leclerc

Ferrari is ready to replace Kimi Raikkonen with rising star Charles Leclerc in its Formula 1 driver line-up for 2019, Motorsport.com has learned.
Raikkonen, who turns 39 in October, earned a one-year contract extension with the Italian team last year.

However, Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne said in December that the 2007 world champion needed more consistency and that "probably this [2018] is the last season to find the right key".

Raikkonen enjoyed a strong start to 2018, scoring three podiums in the first four races and performing much closer to Sebastian Vettel's level than in previous seasons.

However, he has finished off the podium in the previous two races in Monaco and Canada, while Vettel scored a second and a victory to take the championship lead.

Motorsport.com understands that Ferrari considered replacing Raikkonen with current Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo, who is out-of-contract at the end of 2018.

However, it decided that the cost of hiring the Australian would be too high when combined with Vettel's existing salary.

That left it with a choice between Raikkonen, who is still Ferrari's most recent world champion but is yet to win a race since rejoining the team in 2014, and Leclerc, who is contesting his rookie F1 season with Sauber.

  

His dip in form this season has coincided with Leclerc's maiden campaign sparking into life, with the 20-year-old scoring points in three of the last four races and comfortably establishing an advantage over his experienced Sauber teammate Marcus Ericsson.

A final decision has not been made but Ferrari is understood to be leaning towards promoting Leclerc to a race seat.

This would shift it away from its policy of signing established drivers and mean the team swaps a driver with 277 grands prix starts to date – 137 for Ferrari, the third-most of any driver and two fewer than Felipe Massa – for one who is preparing for only his eighth GP weekend in France.

Asked by Motorsport.com on Thursday in France, ahead of this week's race, about his position on extending his F1 career, Raikkonen said he was "not any different to one week, two weeks, a month ago".

Leclerc is a product of the Ferrari Driver Academy and won back-to-back titles in GP3 and Formula 2 under the guidance of the scheme.

He would be its first graduate to make it to a Ferrari race seat.

Leclerc said at the previous in Canada that when people talk about him as a future Ferrari driver "it only makes me smile, but on the other hand it doesn't feel realistic for now".

He added: "When it will be time to think about next year I will think about it, and hopefully we have an opportunity to take that seat."

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Renault drivers won't miss Red Bull benchmark

Renault Formula 1 drivers Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg have both claimed that the works team won’t miss Red Bull Racing as a benchmark when the Milton Keynes outfit switches to Honda power next season.
Since Renault returned as a works team in 2015, it has been able to judge its progress on the chassis side against the form of RBR, a team which has been able to challenge for wins on a regular basis.

Next year McLaren will be the only Renault customer, but Sainz insists that the Enstone team already knows in what areas it needs to improve.

“I think that the team is very conscious of where we are,” said the Spaniard when asked by Motorsport.com.

“Thanks to this year and the last few years next to Red Bull, we know perfectly well where this team is lacking the last step or two to become a top team.

"But from here onwards we don’t need that figure any more, we know where we are, and where things need to improve.”

Hulkenberg backed up his teammate, and insisted that the fastest cars on the grid should be the benchmark, whatever engine they are using.

“I agree with that,” he said. “We don't need another team or another car as a benchmark.

"The benchmark is being in the competition anyway, and your laptimes will tell you and show you were you are.

“The leading cars are always the benchmark. We know we have work to do and where we want to improve, and not having Red Bull anymore is really not a disadvantage or a benefit or whatever.

"It doesn't make a difference.”

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Grosjean engine survived Canadian GP incident

Romain Grosjean will take part in French Grand Prix practice with the Ferrari Formula 1 engine that caused his smoky exit from qualifying in Canada.
Grosjean had new Ferrari engine components fitted for the race in Montreal, which activated the final free MGU-H and turbocharger in his seasonal allocation.

Haas feared that the spectacular problem had caused significant damage and would therefore cost it an available engine, and the components attached to it, from its pool.

The team was informed by Ferrari last week that the engine suffered no internal damage in the qualifying incident.

This means the V6, MGU-H and turbo remain in use and will be used in practice at Paul Ricard on Friday.

Haas team principal Gunther Steiner explained that an oil leak triggered the massive smoke cloud.

"It [the Montreal qualifying engine] will be in the car again tomorrow," Steiner said. "No damage, which is good. It is the last thing we needed.

"It went back to Ferrari and they inspected it, they said there was no internal damage. We just got that news on Friday last week.

"We had to bring a new engine into the pool [in Canada, but] at the moment we don't foresee a grid penalty for the engine or one of the components."

Keeping the second engine in the pool gives Grosjean and the team more flexibility with how to use his allocation over the rest of the season.

Grosjean's engine problem in Canada was the latest setback in a difficult 2018 for the Frenchman, while earlier in the weekend in practice he struck a groundhog.

His exit from qualifying condemned him to a back of the grid start and meant his point-less start to the season continued.

Ahead of Grosjean's home race, Steiner said: "His competitiveness in Canada was good so he's in good spirits.

"If you hit a groundhog, what can you do? You can get upset but it doesn't do anything. The engine wasn't down to him.

"He got his confidence back after what happened in Barcelona and Baku. He was very happy with the car, he was very comfortable with it, just the result wasn't there.

"He's looking forward to going out on track again tomorrow."

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Ericsson wants changes as Leclerc pressure builds

Sauber's Marcus Ericsson says he will go in a different set-up direction for the French Grand Prix after teammate Charles Leclerc comprehensively outshone him once again in Canada.
Leclerc recorded his third point-scoring finish of the season in Canada, as well as his fourth consecutive Q2 appearance.

Ericsson says a lack of confidence in his qualifying set-up is restricting his potential, and he's ready to make major changes at Paul Ricard this weekend.

When asked if he felt the pressure building from Leclerc's performances, Ericsson replied: "He's done a very good job and I've not been able to do the same.

"Of course the pressure is building up then; that's normal in Formula 1, nothing strange about that. But I am convinced I can turn it around.

"I've already had some good chats with my guys about what we need to do. We're going to try a lot of things for Paul Ricard. We're open minded and will try different things to find a way for me to improve.

"Obviously what we're doing is working very good for Charles, but for me I don't really seem to find the confidence with the way we have the car at the moment. So we need to maybe go a bit different to get me up there in qualy, in the races I'm normally quite good.

"It seems that with the softer compounds on one lap I just don't get the feeling that I need to get the maximum out of the car. So maybe it's a case for, in qualifying, we need to have a different setup for me to make me comfortable, especially on tracks with the softer compounds.

"It's things we need to look at, analyse and understand so we can make a step – that would be the key."

  

Sirotkin "destroyed" Montreal race

Ericsson finished 15th in Canada, and blames Williams's Sergey Sirotkin for ruining his chances of a good result in the opening stint.

"It felt like our car was quite good in free air but, even with this track, it's difficult to overtake with these cars," he said. "I really was stuck behind the Williams at the beginning, which really destroyed my race.

"If I could have kept up with the group ahead, our race could've played out really well, because I could manage my tyres right until the end, getting faster as the fuel went [down]. I really think I could have had a good result there, but Sirotkin was just too slow.

"But if you qualify higher up, then you won't get stuck behind slower cars. For me, that's the main focus. When the midfield is this close, we really need to find a way for me to get it right in qualifying."

MIKA: Surely this guys days in F1 are numbers? Doesn't impress and there are loads of people who deserve a seat in Formula 1 compared to Marcus.

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FORCE INDIA SLAPPED WITH BIG FINE FOR LOOSE WHEEL

Force India have been fined €100,000 ($116,550), with €85,000 of the total suspended for a year, after a rear wheel flew off Sergio Perez’s car at speed during free practice for the French Grand Prix.

The team were also told by stewards on Saturday to investigate their assembly and quality control procedures to ensure such a potentially dangerous accident did not happen again.

Stewards at Circuit Paul Ricard said in a statement that the problem had been caused by an assembly fault rather than any incorrect or incomplete fitment of the wheel.

They also cleared the left rear-wheel gun operator of blame and agreed that neither the team nor the driver had any advance warning that there was a problem.

“It would be unreasonable to infer that the team did not take ‘appropriate action’ to stop the car because it had no way of knowing of the problem,” they said in a statement.

“Accordingly, and consistent with previous decisions this year, the stewards decided that the grid-place penalty that ‘may’ be imposed… would not be applied.”

However, they also noted that it was the third such incident involving the team in the past two years and the second this season.

“Hence the usual penalty has been significantly increased,” they said, adding that they hoped the size of the fine would act as a deterrent. The suspended 85,000 euros will be payable if there is a repeat in the next 12 months.

Force India, co-owned by troubled Indian businessman Vijay Mallya, have one of the sport’s smallest budgets and had cash-flow problems earlier in the year, making the sanction particularly painful.

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FRENCH GRAND PRIX: HAMILTON WINS VETTEL STUMBLES

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton regained the world championship points lead after winning the French Grand Prix in commanding style while his main rivals Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas collided on the opening lap.

Hamilton who qualified on pole powered to victory in the 53 lap race, the first grand prix in France since 2008, without much of a challenge and in control throughout the afternoon and thus winning his 44th race in the silver of Mercedes.

The Briton now leads the championship after eight rounds with 145 points, 14 more than Vettel while Mercedes lead the constructors’ title race from Ferrari by 25 points.

Hamilton reflected, “I feel very grateful, grateful for a solid weekend. My guys, I have been with them for six years they are pushing the boundaries and never giving up so I want to thank them and everyone at the factory. This is a great day. I enjoyed the race. The weather has been good and good to see so many people here.”

Hamilton’s title rival, Vettel who led the championship before the race at Circuit Paul Ricard, was on the back foot all afternoon after tagging the back of Bottas’ Mercedes and smashing his front wing on the opening lap.

The Finn lost more time than the German as he was forced to limp back to the pits with a punctured rear. he also had floor damage that hampered him throughout the race.

Vettel, who also tagged the rear of Grosjean’s Haas in the first lap melee, was given a five seconds penalty by the stewards for his role in the incident, the Ferrari driver chased hard all afternoon and fifth his reward. Bottas also recovered to finish seventh.

Immediately behind them, there was another multi-car incident when Romain Grosjean in the Haas collided with the Force India of Esteban Ocon, which was then collected by the wayward Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly who missed his brake marks.

By the time the dust had settled two of the three Frenchman who started the race were out a couple of hundred metres from the start. Grosjean survived to finish 11th despite a five seconds penalty.

The big winner on the day was Max Verstappen in the Red Bull who turned fourth place on the grid to second on the podium with another mature and incident-free performance.

The Dutchman summed up, “It was good. I tried to follow Lewis. He was controlling the pace. I didn’t have to work very hard for it but it’s good to be in the podium.”

Kimi Raikkonen recovered from a poor qualifying and a sluggish start to finish third in the other Ferrari, the Finn having a feisty run late in the race when chasing down and overtaking the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo.

Raikkonen said, “I got a bit blocked with all the mayhem that happened but a decent recovery. At the end, we had a lot of speed and managed to get on the podium.”

The Australian was fourth, his car visibly slower with damaged bodywork which in the end denied him the firepower to feoff of Raikkonen.

Behind Vettel, Kevin Magnussen ‘won Division 2’ with a strong showing in the Haas, the Dane capitalising on the first lap melee to bag fifth and with it a decent haul off points for his team who were Best of the Rest this weekend in France.

Carlos Sainz was running as high up as third at one point, but his race was compromised late on when an engine issue cost him power and dropped him from sixth down to eighth. Nico Hulkenberg was ninth, for a double-points finish for Renault on home soil.

The final point went to Charles Leclerc in the Sauber in tenth who again saw his shares rise with a faultless and impressive performance, comprehensively outperforming his more experienced teammate in 14th.

The misery continued for Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard enjoying the highs of winning at Le Mans last weekend with Toyota, on Sunday he was last of the runners in the woefully uncompetitive McLaren, his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne was 12th.

FIA Blow-By-Blow Report

The race started in spectacular style, with championship leader Vettel colliding with Bottas in Turn 1. The German made a good start but could find no way to attack pole position starter Hamilton.

Vettel moved right where Bottas was powering past and as the pair went into the first corner there was contact. Bottas sustained a rear left puncture and Vettel nose damage, which forced both back to the pits for repairs.

There was another incident in heading into Turn 3 when Ocon and Grosjean touched wheels and then in the turn, Ocon and Gasly collided. Both Frenchman were ruled out of their home race and with debris on the track, the Safety Car was deployed.

Behind the SC Hamilton now led Verstappen, with Sainz third for Renault after a good start from P7 on the grid. Ricciardo was fourth with Räikkönen fifth. After their stops for repairs, during which they also took on soft tyres, Vettel and Bottas rejoined at th back in 17th and 18th place respectively.

Racing resumed at the end of lap five and Hamilton controlled the re-start well to hold his lead over an unchanged top five.

Vettel and Bottas were quickly on the march once racing resumed, however, and by lap 10 the Ferrari driver was up to 10th place, with Bottas in P13. Vettel, though, had been placed under investigation by the stewards, and the German was handed a five-second time penalty for causing the collision with his Mercedes rival.

Vettel was on a march, however and in short order he dismissed Perez and Grosjean to sit eighth behind Leclerc on lap 16 and then he powered past Magnussen and Sainz to take fifth place on lap 20. He was now 30s behind race leader Hamilton, having made a pit stop and taken on soft tyres.

Verstappen was the first of the leaders to make a scheduled pit stop and at the end of lap 25 the Dutchman took on a set of soft tyres before rejoining in fourth place behind Hamilton, Ricciardo and Räikkönen. Vettel was now just 3.7s behind Verstappen in fifth place. Ricciardo then made his stop for softs on lap 28.

Hamilton pitted on lap 33, again for softs, and ceded the lead briefly to Räikkönen. But the Finn made his own trip to pit lane soon after and Hamilton jumped back to first place ahead of Verstappen and Ricciardo who had powered past Vettel when the German made a mistake at the Le Beausset corner.

Räikkönen’s stop dropped him to fifth place behind his team-mate but the Finn had bolted on supersoft tyres and was now lapping considerably faster than Vettel. The German quickly moved over for his team-mate and Räikkönen rose to fourth.

Vettel’s race was then compromised further when he made a second stop for tyres at the end of lap 40. There was an issue with the change and the German was stationary for a crippling 9.1s. He lost no places but there were now 35.9s between him and Räikkönen.

At the front, Hamilton was now seemingly in control. On lap 43 he was 4.8s clear of Verstappen, who was experience a vibration problem on his car, while Ricciardo was a further 9.3 further back. Räikkönen was now 4.5s behind the Australian, with Vettel fifth ahead of Sainz, Magnussen, Bottas (who also had a slow pit stop) Hulkenberg and 10th-placed Leclerc.

Räikkönen then began to close on Ricciardo as his tyre advantage told and with eight laps left he attacked the Australian. The Red Bull driver tried to defend and managed to keep Räikkönen at bay for half the lap but eventually the Finn snuck past through the chicane to take third place.

Sixth-placed Sainz was the next man in trouble and a handful of laps from home he reported a loss of power. He was quickly passed by Magnussen and Bottas and dropped to eighth place, eight seconds ahead of team-mate Hulkenberg.

And that was how it stayed, with Hamilton crossing the line after 53 laps to take his 65th career grand prix victory ahead of Verstappen and Räikkönen. Ricciardo was fourth, with Vettel fifth ahead of Magnussen, Bottas, Sainz, Hulkenberg and Leclerc.

The result means that Hamilton now heads the drivers’ standings with 145 points, 14 clear of Vettel. Ricciardo moves back to third place with 96 points, four clear of Bottas.

MIKA: I can't believe Vettel only got a 5 second grid penalty! WTF is that for a penalty?

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Lauda slams Vettel penalty as too lenient

Mercedes chief Niki Lauda has slammed the decision by the FIA to hand Sebastian Vettel just a five-second penalty for his first corner collision with Valtteri Bottas in the French Grand Prix.
Vettel locked up going into Turn 1 and collided with the back of Bottas, hitting the Finn's left rear tyre and pitching the Mercedes off the track and into a spin.

The FIA looked at the incident and ruled that Vettel was guilty of causing the crash, handing the German a five-second penalty that he served at his second pitstop.

But after Vettel was able to recover to finish fifth – two places ahead of Bottas – Lauda was far from impressed about how things played out.

Asked by Sky F1 if a 1-2 had been on the cards for Mercedes, its non-executive chairman said: "I think we could have done, and why Vettel only gets five seconds for this enormous mistake I don't really understand. It is too little.

"There is more time they can give them. That is what I mean. Five seconds is nothing. He destroyed the whole race for himself and Bottas."

Lauda's comments came after Hamilton was clear about Vettel being at fault for the clash when he watched a replay prior to the podium ceremony.

"Jeez, he took him right out," said Hamilton was he was filmed. "Oh, man, that's crazy."