F1

Chess is a war over the board - the object is to crush the opponent's mind,” said chess world champion Bobby Fischer. GP Racing's OLEG KARPOV recently ...

OPINION: Lewis Hamilton appears unlikely to extend his tally of seven Formula 1 world championships in 2022, as Mercedes tries to recover the ground it has lost with its new car. The drivers aren't exactly happy with that in practice, but it does afford the uniformity that they desired... The Red Bull and Ferrari battle for supremacy takes to Formula 1's next battleground at the Paul Ricard circuit.

Hamilton went from the back of the grid to being a regular race win contender in a strange 2009 season for McLaren, and Mercedes hope he can inspire their ...

And a parallel might be that within our team, we're just starting to really get back the enjoyment for that engineering challenge and the development challenge. Asked if he thinks Hamilton can repeat the trick in 2022, he told reporters: "We started brilliantly [in 2009] didn't have the resources to keep up and were struggling to get near the podium by the end of the year. To turn that hope into reality, they could benefit from Hamilton repeating what he managed to do in the 2009 season with McLaren.

Another F1 record could be up for grabs for Lewis Hamilton if Mercedes boss Toto Wolff's hinting at the French Grand Prix is anything to go by.

"Expectation management is a bit of a thing this year, because we were slowly but surely working our way back to the front runners," Wolff said after qualifying. "We can't figure out what went wrong. "Then we were experimenting with tyre temperatures and you can see we are now 0.7s to Verstappen - the Ferrari lap is a bit of an outlier with the tow here with Sainz - but if you would told me we would be 0.7s to 0.9s off the pace ahead of the weekend then that would be a bit of slap in the face." “Someone once said you have not just got to win the eighth - why not ten? like, no performance. Mercedes have a strong record at Paul Ricard, having won two of the three races to have taken place at the Le Castellet venue since the revival of the French Grand Prix in 2018.

LEWIS HAMILTON is taking part in his 300th F1 Grand Prix this weekend as retirement rumours continue to surround the Mercedes star.

However, Wolff claimed the pair discussed continuing for more than five years which could see Hamilton continue until past the age of 40. "If there's ever a point that I feel that I don't want to commit the time or the effort, the mental time and energy that it takes, that will be the time for me to stop. Hamilton's current Mercedes deal expires at the end of the 2023 season meaning he only has a year-and-a-half left.

The all conquering Mercedes F1 team who have won the most consecutive constructor titles in the history of Formula One have had a miserable start by their ...

Lewis Hamilton is 37 and would be pushing 40 by the next time Mercedes could deliver a car possible for him to win a championship. The all conquering Mercedes F1 team who have won the most consecutive constructor titles in the history of Formula One have had a miserable start by their standards to the new era of car design regulations. Very disappointing to be a second or 9/10ths off the pace.” But it’s a gradual process. “We’re certainly not of that mind. Yet the reality was different.

Here is the provisional starting grid for the 2022 F1 French Grand Prix, which will be held at the Circuit Paul Ricard.

Ferrari Red Bull Red Bull Mercedes He will be joined by Kevin Magnussen, who has also been penalised for exceeding his permitted usage of several power unit components. Ferrari

Formula 1 returns to the birthplace of grand prix racing this weekend with the French GP at Paul Ricard. As one of the oldest events in all of motorsport, ...

In the meantime, Mika Hakkinen had been in a hurry at the start of the race and had carved his way though the pack - getting through Frentzen and Alesi to climb up to second from 14th on the grid. Whether you believe EJ's parable of the man with the brolly, or whether the team had just taken a gamble and won big, it set Frentzen on course for an unlikely title bid. A safety car period followed the stops, as Alesi threw his Sauber into the gravel, with the race brought to a restart on lap 35. Per EJ, the team was informed that the rain wasn't about to stop, and thus the Jordan pit crew filled Frentzen's car up to the maximum and sent him on his way, intending not to stop again. Barrichello led again, passed by Hakkinen again as Frentzen looked good for third - but the top two had to stop again for a splash-and-dash to the finish. Without the presence of his arch rival at the front and Mansell mired in the pack, Prost eased to clear towards a fourth home race win. A more traditional front-running trio of David Coulthard, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Michael Schumacher occupied the next three positions on the grid. Pressure applied by the British driver saw Patrese make a crucial mistake and spin off, opening the path for Mansell to take second place. In fact, due to the early chaos and an incredible first lap to go from 16th to ninth, F1 debutant Jean Alesi became the surprise closest contender to Prost, rising to second in his Tyrrell before pitting. The race was immediately red flagged, as the 1985 British Formula 3 champion stepped out of his rolled March and remarkably was relatively unscathed. But wind the time back to Friday qualifying and something truly remarkable occurred - Minardi topped the times. But Maserati’s challenge had grown stronger and there were three A6GCMs in the top five.

Follow all the action and video as Charles Leclerc starts on pole ahead of Max Verstappen with Lewis Hamilton fourth. Watch live on Sky Sports F1.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has accused Formula 1 rivals of posturing over a potential challenge to the FIA's planned floor changes for 2023.

"Clearly when you're running in the front you just want to just make sure that nothing changes, and when you're not running at the front, you want to make sure that a lot changes. "Trying to work with the FIA is always part of it. He sits in his office, he doesn't call anyone, and does his thing?" "The cars are way too stiff and they bounce. "I think it's just business as usual," he said about the latest row. "No team is ever going to go legal against the FIA, number one.

Mercedes doubts ditching its radical slim sidepod design would significantly improve its Formula 1 performance this year, but is looking at “combinations of ...

But he was focused on weeding out the elements of the car that he wanted to change heading into 2023 and “trying to steer that so that at least, hopefully later on this year, we’ll get somewhere better, but next year’s car is one we can fight with.” “So from the very early part of the year, we’re looking at other teams bodyworks and certainly with a view to next year, looking up and down the grid to see ideas. “We're certainly not of that mind, nor are we wedded to saying this is how the Mercedes car must look.

Carlos Sainz says criticism of Ferrari's F1 strategy calls has been unfair, after its tactics helped Charles Leclerc score French Grand Prix pole position.

"But I think this year the team has been very solid on the strategy side and I think today proves it. "It's nice to see. "And I think it's a bit unfair because [with] every team this season, there's going to be mistakes with tyres, choosing tyres and everything.

Sergio Perez starts third with Lando Norris fourth, George Russell fifth and Carlos Sainz near the back after engine penalties. Ferrari head to Circuit Paul ...

Sergio Perez starts third with Lando Norris fourth, George Russell fifth and Carlos Sainz near the back after engine penalties. Not now!” he shoots back. Follow all the action with Standard Sport’s live French Grand Prix blog! “Not now! Latifi is the next man to spend some time off track after a scuffle with Magnussen that led to the Haas bouncing off the kerb and sending his Williams spiralling. A bit of a disagreement between Ferrari and Sainz over team radio with the driver wanting to stop for new tyres before having a go at Perez.

Max Verstappen led home Lewis Hamilton and George Russell to win Formula 1's 2022 French Grand Prix – a race that title rival Charles Leclerc had crashed of ...

Tsunoda stopped on the same lap as Leclerc’s crash as a result of the floor damage he had picked up in the lap one clash with Ocon that had dropped him to the rear of the pack. That was behind Perez, who lost out to Russell after the Mercedes driver jumped ahead of the Red Bull when the VSC ended as they approached the final corner and then soaked up pressure over the final three laps to seal third. On lap 42, Russell made a late move to the inside of the Turn 8 part of the Mistral chicane and when Perez turned in the pair came close to crashing before the Red Bull scampered across Turn 9 and stayed ahead – to Russell’s frustration but with the stewards’ quickly deciding the incident did not merit investigation. From there, Verstappen was untroubled to the finish and came home with a 10.5s margin of victory ahead of Hamilton, who was likewise unthreatened in second – this was despite a brief moment of worry for the leaders when Zhou Guanyu stopped in the Turn 6 runoff and triggered a brief virtual safety car. But just after it had warned Leclerc to look after his mediums, the race was turned on its head when Leclerc crashed out at Le Beausset – losing the rear of his F1-75 in a mistake while running close to the edge of the track deep into the high-speed hairpin on his stressed rubber. The Dutchman was now the one seemingly struggling for grip as at one stage he slipped off the road at Turn 6, so picking up his first track limits violation, and by lap 14 he had had fallen out of DRS range as Leclerc began to increase his pace back towards where he had been lapping in the early stages.

Max Verstappen won the F1 French Grand Prix in his Red Bull to extend his lead in the drivers' title race.

With the safety car called, Hamilton pitted for a free stop and emerged in second behind Verstappen when racing resumed on lap 21. Leclerc made a clean getaway from pole to hold the lead while Hamilton leapt out of his blocks and jumped Pérez to take third. He overcooked it, lost the rear and spun out into the wall at turn 11 and admitted it had been his fault. Verstappen looked to have slightly superior race pace in a straight line but did not have enough to make the pass. This is the 27th win of Verstappen’s career, his sixth in the last nine races and seventh this season. The victory has crucially further extended Verstappen’s lead over Leclerc who is second in the championship to 63 points, with ten races remaining.

Max Verstappen won the French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard after Charles Leclerc spun out and crashed while leading the race.

Hamilton took second place, with Russell a further six second behind to complete Mercedes’ first double podium of the season. However, Sainz was too far behind from Russell and Perez ahead to close down the gap before the chequered flag. Eventually, Sainz got going, but right in the path of Alexander Albon, who had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting the Ferrari. Sainz was later handed a five second time penalty for an unsafe release. The Safety Car was deployed, prompting a flurry of activity in the pit lane. On lap 17, Leclerc suddenly lost control of his car through Beausset and spun into the tyre wall, reporting a stuck throttle on his car. Leclerc led out front while both he and Verstappen quickly dropped Hamilton and the rest of the pack behind them.

Max Verstappen won at the Circuit Paul Ricard, with Lewis Hamilton in second and George Russell in third.

Carlos Sainz is in sixth, and carrying the flag alone for Ferrari now. 28/53 A Verstappen error, and Hamilton, in his 300th race, who is flying along, could be in clover. 30/53 George Russell will not after all get to third as Carlos Sainz has overtaken him, and is driving an absolute blinder on those medium tyres. Nicholas Latifi, not for the first time, has come to grief in the Williams and Kevin Magnussen in the Haas clatters into him. “He just turned into me,” says Russell. Sainz pits, and takes the penalty after a change of tyres. Russell thinks he had the honour, and getting angry. “I don’t understand.” Here’s a yellow flag, as Guanyu Zhou is off the side of the track, and a virtual safety car. 50/53 Guanyu Zhou’s car is shuffled off the side of the track, and Verstappen is asking his team whether he can come in for a stop, perhaps to try and get a fastest lap. 51/53 Russell has his third place, and he will claim justice for that previous contretemps. and his clash with Russell is the key battle with Hamilton and Verstappen safely away up ahead. Verstappen, up ahead, takes the 27th win of his career, and Hamilton takes his first second place of the season as Russell completes the podium, Sainz chasing down Perez for fifth. Hamilton says “great job, guys” to Toto Wolff in the Mercedes garage, and “well done, George”.

Leclerc looked to be in control of the race before he lost grip in his Ferrari through Turn 11 on lap 18.

It is unlucky for Charles and I hope he is OK.” Back on track, and the safety car was out for two laps. Following his seventh win of his title defence, Verstappen said: “We had really good pace from the start. From there onwards, you never know how it is going to go. Was this the moment his championship challenge ended? Leclerc’s response over the radio was emphatic.

Max Verstappen has scored a huge victory in the World Championship. The Dutchman can add 25 points to his tally thanks to his victory in the Grand Prix, ...

20. Nico Hulkenberg - 0 points 3. Sergio Perez - 163 points 2. Charles Leclerc - 170 points 1. Max Verstappen - 233 points Not much else changes in the World Championship standings. The reigning world champion now has a lead of no less than 63 points.

Sergio Perez says blamed incorrect information about a Virtual Safety Car after George Russell passed him for third place.

“It said it was going to end out of turn nine and it only ended out of turn 13.” “It was totally wrong with the system, there was something going on,” said the Red Bull driver. But it didn’t end and I had the message saying that it’s going to end all the way through turn 12.

The Ferrari driver crashed out at the high-speed Beausset corner on the 18th lap of the race. The driver said “I cannot go off throttle” in a radio message ...

The radio exchange between Leclerc and race engineer Xavier Marcos Padros occured “when he was in reverse gear, trying to get out of the barrier,” Binotto explained. “What happened in Austria was very simple,” he said in response to a question from RaceFans. But it was a genuine mistake.”

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton revealed his drive to second place in Formula 1's French Grand Prix was made tougher after his drinks bottle failed.

I'm looking forward to downing the rest of this drink..." "I didn't see my weight just now, but I would imagine [I lost] probably around three kilos. "You can see us in the race, we can at least lean on them a little bit, so hopefully in that race even closer."

Red Bull's Sergio Perez says he lost third place in the Formula 1 French Grand Prix due to a 'totally wrong' message regarding the ending of the virtual ...

"I mean it's a shame the virtual safety car interfered with the result, to be honest. "I got the message it was going to end out of Turn 9, so I went for it and then it didn't end. Then I got the message saying it was going to end through Turn 12.

GEORGE RUSSELL and Sergio Perez got too close for comfort in their fierce battle for a podium spot in the French GP...

He argued: "Front wheel to rear wheel is the rule. I was definitely front wheel to rear wheel." He successfully held off the Mexican's late challenge to secure his fourth podium finish of the season and wrap up an excellent weekend for Mercedes at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet. As the pair jostled for position in the French GP's most exciting battle, Russell attempted an overtake on lap 42 by diving down the inside of Perez at the entry to the chicane. The pace was strong, but we really struggled with the warm-up on that restart and Checo [Perez] was all over me. "I saw him [Perez] struggling when Sainz got past, and we had that one opportunity.

In recent weeks, there has been a lot of talk about drivers whistling and booing in Formula 1. It was first mentioned during the British Grand Prix in 2021 ...

"On the podium, the Leclerc fans engaged in a light bit of booing with Verstappen when he was on the podium. The remainder of the 2022 F1 season still has ten Grand Prix weekends remaining, so the task for Leclerc is becoming increasingly difficult. It was first mentioned during the British Grand Prix in 2021 and has never really disappeared since.

Charles Leclerc cut a demoralised figure after his French Grand Prix spin, which saw him crash out of the lead at Circuit Paul Ricard on Sunday.

“I was thinking too much and I lost the rear. And it’s unacceptable, I just need to get on top of those things.” Leclerc had taken pole position and led until his Lap 18 crash at Turn 11, a snap of oversteer sending him hurtling into the barriers.

Max Verstappen took victory in the French Grand Prix as Charles Leclerc retired from the lead. Check out the complete race results from the Circuit Paul ...

The full results from the 2022 F1 French GP can be seen below: From then on, Verstappen cruised to his seventh win of the 2022 F1 season, ahead of Lewis Hamilton in a season's best second place, and George Russell in third. Max Verstappen claimed victory in the French Grand Prix, as title rival Charles Leclerc once again retired from the lead in 2022.

'Frustrated' Ricciardo's admission as Hamilton eyes milestone miracle — French GP LIVE.

3rd row: Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) 4th row: Fernando Alonso (ESP/Alpine-Renault) Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) 2nd row: Sergio Pérez (MEX/Red Bull) Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) I think the gap is more concerning than the finishing order.” Front row: Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) I made a mistake on my last lap.

Race leader Charles Leclerc crashes into the barriers at Turn 11 and is out of the French Grand Prix! Charles Leclerc accepted responsibility for making the " ...

"It didn't go to plan, but I think we had a good performance," he added. So simple we need to focus on the next result." "It's just a mistake, it happens, in the same way we have had reliability issues," Binotto said. I really think they need to take some time to look at that because I still can't believe that it would be a driver mistake." "It's just trying to push too much and I lost the rear," Leclerc added. I've been saying I think I'm performing at my highest level in my career but if I keep doing those mistakes then it's pointless to perform at a very high level.

It's difficult to think of a 2022 Formula 1 race where the biggest winner and the biggest loser are as easy to identify as the French GP.

But while you can have varying opinions on the decision to pit him late on – Sainz himself seemed more understanding of it post-race than he was during – he should never have been in that position to begin with. His team-mate Valtteri Bottas struggled to match the cars around him and ultimately finished in 14th, over 14 seconds off the points despite the mid-race safety car bunching up the field. Zhou’s race would end after he reported a lack of power and misfiring of his Ferrari engine. – BA And while this weekend didn’t do much to address that balance, it will mark one of Stroll’s best performances of 2022 so far. With a better execution of the race from Ferrari, neither Mercedes driver would’ve been on the podium.

Max Verstappen says his Formula 1 championship lead over Charles Leclerc is bigger than it should be given Ferrari's performance compared to Red Bull so far ...

“Immediately I could see that our balance was not bad, but he could also be just managing a bit,” Verstappen said. We’ve seen Mercedes for sure are gathering momentum. The win saw Verstappen's championship advantage swell from 38 points to 63, putting him more than two race wins clear with 10 races to go this season.

Lewis Hamilton has indicated he has every intention of continuing in Formula One beyond the end of next season, after finishing second in the French Grand ...

“We have to keep pushing and I hope we are getting a little closer. “I want to get back to winning ways and I am sure we will sit down together soon,” he said, before offering his gratitude to some of the key people who have helped him come so far. “I still feel fresh and there is plenty of fuel in the tank,” he said.