Verstappen Wins F1 French GP after Crash with Leclerc

Sunday's 2022 Formula 1 French Grand Prix was a race Charles Leclerc will want to forget.

Ferrari's Leclerc was dominant all weekend and looked to be on his way to his fourth win of the season, but instead he retired for the third time, suffering a snap oversteer in turn 11 on lap 18 that sent him into the barriers and out of the race, bringing out the safety car. The safety car was brought in.

This surrendered the lead to Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing, who went on to win the race. Mercedes-Benz AMG's Lewis Hamilton finished second, 10.587 seconds behind Verstappen, and fellow Mercedes driver George Russell finished third, 16.495 seconds behind the winner.

When the green light came on at the sweltering Paul Ricard circuit, Leclerc easily pulled away from Verstappen, who started second on the grid. Sergio Perez, another Red Bull driver, started third but was quickly overtaken by Hamilton.

Leclerc managed to hold off several overtaking attempts by Verstappen. Similarly, Hamilton held off Perez. Meanwhile, Ferrari's Carlos Sainz started from last on the grid due to an engine penalty, but gradually worked his way up the order.

Sainz was able to hold off Russell and Perez late in the race to move up to third, but unfortunately he was penalized with a five-second penalty for making an unsafe release when exiting the pits. He therefore had to pit again to receive the penalty. He eventually finished 5th, earning bonus points for the fastest lap. In front of him was Perez in 4th place.

However, on lap 49, in turn 5, the Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guan Yu stopped in the run-off area, bringing in the virtual safety car.

After this weekend, Verstappen's lead in the 2022 drivers' championship has widened further and the Red Bull driver now has 233 points. Leclerc is second with 170 points and Perez is third with 163 points. In the constructors' championship, Red Bull leads with 396 points to Ferrari's 314 and Mercedes' 270. The battle continues this weekend in the 13th round in Hungary.

Full results for the 2022 F1 French Grand Prix are as follows:

1) Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 2) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-Benz AMG) +10.587 seconds 3) George Russell (Mercedes-Benz AMG) +16. 495.495 seconds 4) Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) +17.310 seconds 5) Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +28.872 seconds 6) Fernando Alonso (Alpine) +42.879 seconds 7) Lando Norris (McLaren) +52.026 seconds 8) Esteban Ocon ( Alpine) +56.959s9) Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) +60.372s10) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +62.549s11) Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) +64.494s12) Pierre Gasly (Alfa Tauli) +65. 448.13) Alexander Albon, Williams +68.565.14) Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo +76.666.15) Mick Schumacher, Haas +80.394.16) Guan Yu Zhou, Alfa Romeo +6 Zhou NC) Nicolas Latifi, Williams - DNFNC) Kevin Magnussen, Haas - DNFNC) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari - DNFNC) Hiroki Tsunoda, Alfa Tauli - DNF