King of France Hami regains overall lead
Le Castellet (France), June 24: Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton won the French Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday to regain the overall lead from Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who finished fifth after a first lap collision.
The victory was the 65th of Hamilton’s F1 career but the Briton’s first in France, which was returning to the calendar after a 10-year absence, and continued a triumphant day for English sports fans.
“Great work guys! I’m so happy for England as well,” he said over the team radio, referring to the national soccer team’s 6-1 World Cup rout of Panama in Russia. “It’s a beautiful Sunday, everyone.”
Hamilton, who had started on pole position, now leads Vettel by 14 points after eight of 21 races. The Briton has 145 and German 131. Red Bull’s Dutch 20year-old Max Verstappen took the chequered flag in second place with Kimi Raikkonen completing the podium for Ferrari and Australian Daniel Ricciardo finishing fourth for Red Bull.
Hamilton had never before won in France and his victory at Le Castellet, a southern circuit that last hosted Formula One in 1990, set a record for the most wins at different grands prix.
He had shared the record of 22 with retired seventimes world champion Michael Schumacher. He also extended his record of wins at different circuits to 26. There was drama at the start as Hamilton and Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas lined up on the front row with Vettel just behind in third. Vettel and Bottas collided as they jostled for position, with the German handed a fivesecond penalty for causing the collision.