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2018 French Grand Prix

The 2018 French Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix de France 2018)[1] was a Formula One motor race that took place on 24 June 2018 at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, France.[1] The race was the eighth round of the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship and marked the first time that the French Grand Prix has been run since 2008. It was the 87th running of the French Grand Prix,[2] and the 59th time the event had been included as a round of the Formula One World Championship since the inception of the series in 1950.[3]

2018 French Grand Prix
Race 8 of 21 in the 2018 Formula One World Championship
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Layout of the Circuit Paul Ricard in 2018
Race details[1]
Date 24 June 2018
Official name Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix de France 2018
Location Circuit Paul Ricard
Le Castellet, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
Course Permanent racing circuit
Course length 5.842 km (3.630 miles)
Distance 53 laps, 309.690 km (192.432 miles)
Weather Partially cloudy, warm and dry
Pole position
Driver
Mercedes
Time 1:30.029
Fastest lap
Driver Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes
Time 1:34.225 on lap 41
Podium
First
Mercedes
Second
Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer
Third
Ferrari
Lap leaders

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel entered the race with a one-point lead over Lewis Hamilton in the World Drivers' Championship. In the World Constructors' Championship, Mercedes led Ferrari by seventeen points. Hamilton took the lead in the Driver's Championship by winning the race, with Vettel finishing fifth.

Background

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The race returned to the calendar for the first time since 2008, with Circuit Paul Ricard chosen as the venue. The circuit last hosted the French Grand Prix in 1990 before the event moved to the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in 1991.[4] The race used the 5.842 km (3.630 mi) layout of the Circuit Paul Ricard for the first time. The layout includes a chicane on the Mistral straight as opposed to the 5.809 km (3.610 mi) circuit that was used nine times between 1971 and 1985.[note 1]

The race was run in June, filling a vacancy left by the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The race in Azerbaijan was moved to an April date to avoid clashing with celebrations for the centenary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.[5]

Drag reduction system

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The circuit featured two drag reduction system (DRS) zones. The first was located along the main straight, while the second was on the Mistral Straight on the approach to the chicane.[6]

Tyres

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Tyre supplier Pirelli provided teams with the soft, supersoft and ultrasoft compounds of tyres. They reverted to their narrow tread compound following feedback from the teams in the wake of mid-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Free practice

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Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap in the first free practice session, which was cut short by an accident involving Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson. Ericsson lost control of his Sauber C37 on the approach to Turn 11 and spun into the barrier on the outside of the corner. The car hit the tyre wall at an angle and subsequently caught fire. Ericsson was unharmed, but with two minutes remaining the session was abandoned and the damage to his car so extensive that he was unable to take part in the second free practice session. Several drivers experienced spins during the session, most notably at Turn 6 where an intermittent and gusty local wind caught the drivers unaware as they accelerated away from the apex of the corner. Unlike Ericsson, all of the drivers avoided contact with the wall courtesy of the circuit's unique, abrasive tarmac run-off areas designed to slow down cars that left the circuit.

Hamilton was fastest again in the second free practice session despite having his flying lap interrupted by another red flag. Sergio Pérez lost a wheel as he turned onto the Mistral Straight, prompting race officials to mount an investigation as to whether Force India had released Pérez from the pit lane with his car in an unsafe condition. The session was restarted once Pérez's car was cleared away.[7]

Qualifying

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Pos. No. Driver Constructor Qualifying times Final
grid
Q1 Q2 Q3
1 44   Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:31.271 1:30.645 1:30.029 1
2 77   Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:31.776 1:31.227 1:30.147 2
3 5   Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:31.820 1:30.751 1:30.400 3
4 33   Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 1:31.531 1:30.818 1:30.705 4
5 3   Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 1:31.910 1:31.538 1:30.895 5
6 7   Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:31.567 1:30.772 1:31.057 6
7 55   Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 1:32.394 1:32.016 1:32.126 7
8 16   Charles Leclerc Sauber-Ferrari 1:32.538 1:32.055 1:32.635 8
9 20   Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1:32.169 1:31.510 1:32.930 9
10 8   Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1:32.083 1:31.472 No time 10
11 31   Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes 1:32.786 1:32.075 11
12 27   Nico Hülkenberg Renault 1:32.949 1:32.115 12
13 11   Sergio Pérez Force India-Mercedes 1:32.692 1:32.454 13
14 10   Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 1:32.447 1:32.460 14
15 9   Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1:32.804 1:32.820 15
16 14   Fernando Alonso McLaren-Renault 1:32.976 16
17 28   Brendon Hartley Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 1:33.025 201
18 2   Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren-Renault 1:33.162 17
19 35   Sergey Sirotkin Williams-Mercedes 1:33.636 18
20 18   Lance Stroll Williams-Mercedes 1:33.729 19
107% time: 1:37.659
Source:[8]
Notes
  • ^1  – Brendon Hartley received a 35-place grid penalty for exceeding his quota of power unit components.

Race

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Race report

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At the start Sebastian Vettel ran into the back of Valtteri Bottas, with both sustaining damage and having to pit for repairs, also there was a separate collision between Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon leaving both cars stranded out on the track, this brought out a brief safety car period lasting till the end of lap 5. Vettel would later receive a penalty for his collision with Bottas which meant he would only manage to finish 5th. Lance Stroll suffered a tyre puncture near the end of the race causing a virtual safety car, which ended with only half a lap left of the race. Lewis Hamilton comfortably won ahead of Max Verstappen, while Kimi Räikkönen completed the podium.[9]

Race classification

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Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 44   Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 53 1:30:11.385 1 25
2 33   Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 53 +7.090 4 18
3 7   Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 53 +25.888 6 15
4 3   Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 53 +34.736 5 12
5 5   Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 53 +1:01.935 3 10
6 20   Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 53 +1:19.364 9 8
7 77   Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 53 +1:20.632 2 6
8 55   Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 53 +1:27.184 7 4
9 27   Nico Hülkenberg Renault 53 +1:31.989 12 2
10 16   Charles Leclerc Sauber-Ferrari 53 +1:33.873 8 1
11 8   Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 52 +1 lap 10
12 2   Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren-Renault 52 +1 lap 17
13 9   Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 52 +1 lap 15
14 28   Brendon Hartley Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 52 +1 lap 20
15 35   Sergey Sirotkin Williams-Mercedes 52 +1 lap1 18
162 14   Fernando Alonso McLaren-Renault 50 Suspension 16
172 18   Lance Stroll Williams-Mercedes 48 Puncture 19
Ret 11   Sergio Pérez Force India-Mercedes 27 Engine 13
Ret 31   Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes 0 Collision 11
Ret 10   Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 0 Collision 14
Source:[10]
Notes
  • ^1  – Sergey Sirotkin had 5 seconds added to his race time for driving unnecessarily slowly behind the safety car.
  • ^2  – Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll retired from the race, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Championship standings after the race

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  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The French Grand Prix used the short 3.812 km (2.369 mi) configuration of the Circuit Paul Ricard between 1986 and 1990.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix de France 2018". formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  2. ^ Richards, Giles (21 June 2018). "Return to Paul Ricard the first step to recapturing glory of French racing". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Grands Prix France". StatsF1. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  4. ^ Benson, Andrew (5 December 2016). "French Grand Prix returns for 2018 after 10-year absence". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 1 September 2017.
  5. ^ "Ариф Рагимов: В 2018-м россиянам будет проще посетить гонки в Баку и Сочи" [Arif Ragimov: In 2018 it will be easier for Russians to visit races in Baku and Sochi.]. autosport.com.ru (in Russian). Manuscript. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  6. ^ Noble, Jonathon (20 June 2018). "Paul Ricard circuit to feature two DRS zones for F1 French GP". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  7. ^ "Lewis Hamilton tops French GP practice as Sergio Perez loses wheel". BBC Sport. 22 June 2018.
  8. ^ "Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix de France 2018 – Qualifying". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. 23 June 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  9. ^ Benson, Andrew (24 June 2018). "Hamilton wins as Vettel penalised". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix de France 2018 – Race Result". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. 24 June 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  11. ^ a b "France 2018 – Championship". StatsF1. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
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