Something of a damp squib after the high drama (or at least controversy) of last race.
Damp squib or not, there is no denying Lewis Hamilton‘s brilliance at the front of the 2019 French Grand Prix.
It was all something of a walk in the park; albeit a hot, sweaty, tiring walk. Through the practice sessions, the balance of power had somewhat swung between himself and his teammate – Valtteri Bottas arguably even appearing to have the edge ahead of qualifying – but when it hit crunch time it was the reigning champion who delivered, as he so often does. An 18-second gap to 2nd place is an age in modern Formula 1. The mantra of winning as slowly as possible has become increasingly accepted, with the limit on engines meaning they are only used as much as is absolutely required. Hamilton’s lead in the championship is looking increasingly insurmountable.
Behind the two Mercedes, Charles Leclerc drove an excellent race to the final step of the podium, even closing and pressuring Bottas in the last couple of laps in what appeared to be an inferior car. Whilst his more experienced teammate, Sebastian Vettel, toiled – recovering from 7th to 5th after a poor qualifying – the young Monegasque shone. This was exactly the race he needed after a run of bad luck and costly mistakes had left him further back in the championship than was a true reflection of his quality. This was a very mature performance and one that will potentially turn senior Ferrari heads.
Vettel remains the de facto lead driver but, with it looking increasingly like Ferrari will not be involved in a serious title challenge this season, perhaps they’re better off letting their drivers fight and gaining Leclerc some valuable further experience.
Time Running Out For Gasly?
Whilst the locals were happy with quasi-French Leclerc’s podium, they must have been somewhat embarrassed by yet another lacklustre performance from their man at Red Bull. The Honda upgrade may not have made a noteworthy difference to the Red Bull performance but Max Verstappen still put in another solid performance to split the Ferraris and take another haul of points. Gasly, meanwhile, claimed one solitary point thanks to a 10-second penalty for Daniel Ricciardo.
Christian Horner recently made a pointed remark regarding Helmut Marko ‘softening in his old age’ but there are surely now discussions happening behind the scenes as to how you solve a problem like Pierre. The excuse of acclimatising to the car must be long gone but Gasly is still alarmingly far behind his teammate. Even with a softer tyre in Q2 than most of his competitors he only scraped into the top 10. How much longer can this continue? Daniil Kvyat was bumped down to Toro Rosso for far less… Admittedly with Verstappen crying out for his seat.
What saves Gasly could just be a lack of competition as it is surely too soon for Alexander Albon and there would be a significant slice of humble pie involved in re-promoting Kvyat…
A Renaissance in Papaya Orange
The story of the weekend was arguably McLaren’s performance. 5th and 6th on the grid and out-qualifying the Ferrari of Vettel clearly meant a huge amount to the team as they celebrated on the pit wall. They had not expected to be particularly strong on this track after all. Coming into the weekend, all the attention had been on Renault’s upgrades and whether they could move clear of the midfield pack. But it was the other cars with the French engines that were to do so.
Come race day, the two orange cars held their own and looked comfortable for 6th and 7th – after Vettel had predictably passed them – only for Lando Norris to experience hydraulic issues in the closing stages of the race and agonisingly lose three places on the final lap. He regained one after Ricciardo’s penalty but 9th was not befitting of another excellent drive from the young rookie.
Nonetheless, this has been an excellent spell for the McLaren team. Their new Team Principal, Andreas Seidl, appears to be another solid addition to a much-improved leadership team as they continue their steady ascent towards former glories.
Championship Over?
With Mercedes seemingly having developed a car with no clear weaknesses this season and five-time world champion Hamilton hitting his stride, is the championship as good as done in June? The Briton has now opened up a 36-point gap over teammate Bottas after four wins on the trot. And the odds are he is just getting going.
Hamilton has generally always become stronger as the season progresses and he gets more comfortable with the car. Was Bottas 2.0 for real early in the season or was it just Hamilton getting his eye in? His new steely persona seemed to be visibly slipping as he crouched forlornly in the background after qualifying on Saturday and such a dominant performance one day later will surely have him wondering how, and if, he can compete with his illustrious teammate.
Can the Finn make a fight of this championship still? The next race in Austria has been a strong one for him in recent years so he will really need to make the most of that. And maybe grow a 2nd beard?..
Oh and Ferrari…well, Vettel is now more than three clear victories behind Hamiton in the standings. I’ll leave it at that.
Answering the Burning Questions
Will Vettel’s penalty be overturned? Will the situation actually be resolved this weekend? No and yes, respectively. People even seemed to have moved on for the mostpart.
Can Bottas or Ferrari do something to reduce Hamilton’s momentum towards another title? Just a plain no for this one.
Can Renault’s aero upgrade help keep up the progress they’ve made in the last two races? McLaren stole their limelight but it was another decent race for the French team. Can’t say the upgrade made a noticeable difference though.
Will we have the same ridiculous trophy as last year? Yup. And a giant version of it next to the podium.
What effect will the new Honda engine have on Red Bull? Not much of one.
Will anyone make it through the race without a migraine from those stupid lines in the run-off area? I did, just about.
The French Grand Prix in 60 Seconds
Session Progression
A Quick Public Service Announcement
I’m heading off to Glastonbury in the morning (to work in a smoothie stall for a week) so there will be a bit of radio silence. And next week’s report will probably be a day or two late.
See you on the other side.
