F1, French GP to Max Verstappen: Charles Leclerc retires, 5th Carlos Sainz

Bitter Sunday for Ferrari in France.

Max Verstappen won at Le Castellet, taking his Red Bull first to the finish line ahead of the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. Only fifth, also behind Sergio Perez, a nevertheless commendable Carlos Sainz. Whose great comeback was not enough to erase the discontent at Ferrari’s home for a French Grand Prix that Charles Leclerc’s retirement made a nightmare.

In fact, the Monegasque, who started from pole position, began his Sunday in the best of ways, starting in the lead ahead of Verstappen and thwarting his many attempts to attack in the early laps. The situation did not change until the start of the pit stops, with Red Bull anticipating the tire change ahead of Ferrari. And here the patatrac occurred.

On lap 17, in fact, Leclerc lost his rear end in a corner, crashing into the barriers. The accident, as he himself admitted, was due to a personal mistake on his part and not to problems with the accelerator. This resulted in the entry of the Safety Car, complete with a penalty to Sainz for dangerous restart after his tire change.

This additional problem thwarted the excellent comeback of the Spaniard, author of the two most beautiful overtakes of the race against Russell and Perez. The only Ferrari at the finish line thus had to settle for fifth place at the end of a Sunday to forget.

French Grand Prix 2022, the order of finish:

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
3. George Russell (Mercedes)
4. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
6. Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
7. Lando Norris (McLaren)
8. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
9. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)