Verstappen wins French Grand Prix

Max Verstappen won the French Grand Prix on Sunday after Charles Leclerc crashed out while leading, a mistake that dropped the Ferrari driver 63 points behind the defending Formula One champion. Verstappen’s seventh win through 12 races this season upped his career total to 27 victories, all with Red Bull. He said his lead in the title race is misleading because Red Bull and Ferrari have been fairly even this season. “Of course it’s a great lead but a lot of things can happen. It’s probably a bit bigger than it should have been when you look at the performance of the two cars,” Verstappen said. “We still need a bit more one-lap race. I think Budapest (Hungary) will be a bit of a struggle for us and Ferrari will be really, really quick.” Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton finished second in his 300th grand prix — his fourth consecutive podium and highest finish in what’s so far been a winless season — while teammate George Russell passed Sergio Perez of Red Bull following a late restart to give Mercedes its first double podium of the year.