How Charles Leclerc's Error Handed Max Verstappen F1 French GP Win

Formula 1’s French Grand Prix was set to be a close fight between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen, but a critical mistake by the Ferrari driver handed the reigning champion an enormous points lead.

Autoweek rounds up the main talking points.

‘NOOOOOO!’

Formula 1’s final visit to Circuit Paul Ricard in France was shaping up nicely during the opening stint of the race.

Ferrari's Leclerc led away from pole position but had Max Verstappen nipping at his tires during the opening laps. As the stint extended, Leclerc gradually pulled clear of Verstappen and it was Red Bull team that reacted first by bringing their man in for fresh tires. But within two laps, Leclerc was in the wall.

As Leclerc rounded the fast right-hander of Le Beausset the rear of the F1-75 worked loose and he spun into the wall. Amid heavy breathing on the radio came an animalistic guttural scream of ‘NOOOOOOOOOOO’ that will perhaps be remembered as the defining moment of the season.

In one error, Leclerc had thrown away 25 points. It marked the third time this season that Leclerc has retired from the lead of a Grand Prix. Engine issues earlier this season forced him out early in Spain and Azerbaijan. Add that to strategic blunders in Monaco and Britain, and Leclerc’s own less-important mistake in Italy, and Ferrari has lost a hatful of points in 2022.

“A mistake, a mistake,” said a dejected Leclerc. “I've been saying I think I'm performing at my highest level in my career, but if I keep doing those mistakes then it's pointless to perform at a very high level. I'm losing too many points. Seven in Imola, 25 here because we probably were the strongest car on track today.

"So, if we lose the championship by 32 points at the end of the season, I will know from where they are coming from. It’s my fault and if I keep doing mistakes like this then I deserve to not win the championship.”

Leclerc’s exit permitted Verstappen to control the remainder of the race, managing the situation in sweltering conditions, to pick up win number seven of the season. He is now 63 points clear with 10 Grand Prix remaining in 2022.

“Once Charles was off, then I knew it was all about managing the tires to the end because a two-stop was slower,” said Verstappen. “I just gradually increased the gap, knew the car was good today, so it was all about managing the tires to the end.”

Verstappen was typically cautious about his large title advantage.

“It’s a great lead but a lot of things can happen,” he said. “It’s all about scoring points every single race, even when it’s not your day.”

Double Podium for Mercedes

Mercedes picked up its first double podium of the 2022 season—a situation that appeared unlikely following a uninspired showing in qualifying.

Lewis Hamilton was almost a second off pole in fourth, with George Russell further adrift in sixth, with neither able to explain the larger-than-expected deficit. Yet come the checkered flag on Sunday, the Mercedes drivers were together on the podium. Hamilton finished second and Russell third.

Hamilton profited from a strong getaway to jump Sergio Perez at the start and gradually pulled away, turning third into second when Leclerc exited stage left. It marked Hamilton’s best season result on the occasion of his 300th Grand Prix.

Russell had a more difficult path to the podium, eventually securing third on a late past Perez coming out of a safety car period. The overall race performance of the W13s was encouraging, significantly closer to the F1-75s and RB18s compared to one-lap speed, meaning Mercedes is gradually chipping away at it.

“While we didn’t have the pace of the lead cars, this is an incredible result for us, to be here,” said Hamilton. “This is progress, even though we’re not necessarily closing the gap in quali performance, this is great points for us. I definitely don’t think George and I expected to be second and third, this is the highest all year, so this is a huge day overall.”

Added Russell: “I think the gap to Max and Charles, they’re doing an extremely good job, we’ve still got a couple of tenths in race trim. We still need to understand what’s going on with our qualifying performance, but we feel we have a direction we can develop the car now and it probably took us eight to nine races to understand what makes this iteration of car go fast. We’re excited for the second half of the season.”