Max third podium this season with P2 at French GP: 'Good race'

Published on 24 June 2018 by Mike Motilall

For the third time this season, Max Verstappen has had a podium finish. At the French Grand Prix he came in second fastest. After a tumultuous opening of the race, during which Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas ran in to each other and dropped back, the Dutchman benefitted massively. Lewis Hamilton was flawless and rounded up a strong weekend with a victory. For a long time it looked like Daniel Ricciardo would also wind up on the podium, but the Ozzie lost his position to Kimi Raikkonen in the closing stages of the race. The Finn managed to close the gap on a fresh set of super-softs.

“It was a good race”, says Max after the race. “I didn’t have to work really hard for it, but it’s always good to be on the podium. I was lucky at the start not to have been hit. The first part after that was a bit difficult. I wasn’t driving with that much front wing and this caused my softer tyres to degrade faster. When I was finally on the softs, it was fine. They can handle a bit more. With less fuel, the car was starting to come to me as well, so that was just good. To then finish second fastest is pretty neat.”

On the question what the Dutchman thinks of the incident at the start, Max answers: “Everyone is trying to get a spot. People make mistakes, things like that can happen.”

After the pitstop, the Dutchman was having vibration in his car. Max provides more details on what the cause was: “The vibration was coming from the left front tyre. When I went back out again after the pitstop, I immediately noticed enormous vibration in the car. During my run it got more severe because the tyre degrades, but you just keep on driving of course.”

Vettel was handed a five-second time penalty for the incident at the start of the race. Is Vettel treated differently by the Stewards of the race than Max? “They shouldn’t treat anyone differently for sure”, says Max. “You make mistakes in life and that happens to even the best drivers, as you could see today. To be honest it makes me quite angry. I have had some bad comments on my driving style and my approach, which I needed to change. I haven’t changed anything and everything is going well now. Sometimes you make mistakes, we are only human after all.”

When the lights go out on Circuit Paul Ricard, heading into Turn one things go sour for Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas. The German runs in to the Mercedes-driver’s left rear wheel. Which deflates immediately upon impact. The incident earns Vettel a broken front wing and a five-second time penalty. Both drivers report back to their teams in the pits to have the damage repaired and be able to get back on their way.

During the first lap, both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly have their moments as well. Gasly loses control of his Toro Rosso and hits his fellow countryman. This causes the two French drivers to quite quickly get a DNF behind their names. Due to the debris on track, the safety car is deployed. Max Verstappen is able to avoid the chaos and manages to slot in behind Lewis Hamilton in second place. Behind the Dutchman, Carlos Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo, Kevin Magnussen and Charles Leclerc round up the top six.

After the track has been cleared and the pack is let loose again, Hamilton starts building his gap to Max gradually, lap after lap. After ten laps, the gap between them is almost two-and-a-half second. Meanwhile, team mate Ricciardo has progressed to the third spot after having overtaken Sainz.

Meanwhile, Vettel and Bottas have been charging through the pack after their incident at the start. Halfway through the race, the two drivers are P5 (Vettel) and P10 (Bottas). Verstappen is by then still on a course set for the podium even though the gap to race leader Hamilton has grown to eight second.

On lap twenty-six, Max, as one of the front runners, comes in for his first and only pit stop. The super-softs on his RB14 are replaced for a new set of the softs. After a good stop, Max rejoins in fourth. Moments later, Sergio Pérez is the third driver to drop out. The Mexican reports back to his team with an engine related issue after which he is pushed back into the pit box.

After the top teams have all done their pit stops, the top six is formed by Hamilton, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Vettel, Raikkonen and Bottas. From all these drivers, Raikkonen is the only one on the super-softs. The others have had the yellow striped compound strapped on. Because Bottas and Vettel have changed their tyres at the beginning of the race, both drivers come back in once again for a new set of the ultra-softs towards the end of the race.

The fight for the final podium spot is quite exciting in the closing stages of the race as Kimi Raikkonen keeps closing the gap to Daniel Ricciardo. With still six laps to go, the Ferrari-driver makes little work of the Ozzie and snatches P3 from him. With two laps remaining, Lance Stroll brings out the virtual safety car when the left front tyre of the Canadian-driver deflates entering Turn ten.

Lewis Hamilton remains flawless and takes the chequered flag, the 65th victory of his career. Just like in Spain and Canada, Max Verstappen once again has a podium finish. Coming in second fastest the youngster brings home eighteen much needed points. Kimi Raikkonen rounds up the podium. Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas, even though the incident at the start of the race, still manage to finish fifth and seventh. Kevin Magnussen did a great a job for Haas crossing the line sixth fastest.  

Results Grand Prix France: