F1: FRENCH GRAND PRIX
from JAMES MURRAY
LEWIS HAMILTON celebrated England’s World Cup win after roaring to victory in yesterday’s French Grand Prix.
Britain’s four-times world champion regained the lead in the title race with his first F1 victory in France, while arch-rival Sebastian Vettel shot himself in the foot.
No wonder Hamilton radioed in to his Mercedes team on his lap of honour at the Paul Ricard Circuit in southern France, saying: “Great work guys, so happy for England as well, it is a beautiful Sunday everyone.”
The same could not be said for Vettel after he crashed his Ferrari into the back of Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas at the 210mph opening bend, forcing a stop for a new front wing.
The German was also hit with a five-second penalty before recovering to finish fifth – falling 14 points behind Hamilton at the top of the drivers’ title.
The crash also dumped Bottas down into seventh place, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was second and teammate Daniel Ricciardo was beaten to third by Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in the closing stages.
It was the perfect weekend for Hamilton after topping both practice sessions and then sticking his Mercedes on pole before nailing the start – and the win.
And it was made all the sweeter with Vettel losing control of his Ferrari under braking at the first corner before crashing into Bottas.
After watching a video clip of the accident, Hamilton said: “He took him right out, ah man, that’s crazy.
“When someone destroys your race through an error and they’re allowed to come back and still finish ahead of that person he took out – it doesn’t weigh up.
“Ultimately, Seb should not have not been able to finish ahead of Valtteri because he took him out of the race.”
Mercedes director and F1 legend Niki Lauda also weighed into Vettel, saying: “Why Vettel gets only five seconds for this enormous mistake, I don’t understand.
“It’s too little, five seconds is nothing. He destroyed the whole race for himself and Bottas.”
At least Vettel owned up, saying: “My start was too good and I ended up with nowhere to go. It is my mistake.”