In Pictures: France 2022
Formula One arrived at the South of France for the 12th race of the season, the French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard. It was Sir Lewis Hamilton’s 300th race in F1.
The French Grand Prix is the World’s oldest “Grand Prix”. It was first run on 26 June 1906 under the auspices of the Automobile Club de France in Sarthe with a starting field of 32 automobiles. The Grand Prix name ("Great Prize") referred to the prize of 45,000 French francs to the race winner.
And now about the current venue:
Paul Ricard was a French industrialist and creator of an eponymous pastis brand that merged in 1975 with its competitor Pernod to create Pernod Ricard.
In 1970 Ricard built the Circuit Paul Ricard, a racetrack near the village of Le Castellet in the department of Var in southern France.[4] The circuit hosted 14 editions of the Formula One French Grand Prix between 1971 and 1990, as well as the Bol d'Or and the French motorcycle Grand Prix. After a ten-year absence from the calendar, the French Grand Prix returned to the Circuit Paul Ricard in 2018…
THURSDAY
Aston Martin celebrated the 100th anniversary of their first Grand Prix entry with a roaring return to the 1920s as Sebastian Vettel piloted TT1, affectionately nicknamed 'Green Pea', around Circuit Paul Ricard, 100 years on from the storied car taking to the road circuit of Strasbourg for a 60-lap, 800 km race as one of two Aston Martin entries.
FRIDAY
Every team brought many new upgrades to their cars, except Haas, which has decided to better understand what they have and focus on setting up the cars instead of trying new things.
Nick De Vries and Robert Kubica were in Hamilton’s Mercedes and Bottas’ Alfa Romeo respectively for the first practice. Weather wise, it was hot, very hot, so tire degradation was a concern, as it was engine temperature and cooling.
And with the first hour of practice done, it was Charles Leclerc setting the fastest lap, closely followed by Max Verstappen. Then came Sainz, Russell, and Gasly. The biggest question on the paddock was: Is Mercedes Sandbagging?
For FP2, most teams changed their focus to long runs, trying to find the optimal race setup. There were a few situations with slow cars on track, complicating timed laps, but that did not hinder Verstappen, Leclerc, and Sainz from exchanging fastest laps, with the Mercedes duo completing the top five.
The only major issue was Mick Schumacher losing his Haas and almost crashing into the barriers, but with so much run-off area at Paul Ricard, it was only a scare. No harm, no foul. In the end, it was Carlos Sainz setting the fastest lap, ahead of Leclerc, Verstappen, Russell, and Hamilton, the Top Five.
SATURDAY
Carlos Sainz and Kevin Magnussen got fresh Ferrari Power Units for FP3, so both will start the race from the back of the grid.
Slow start for the third and final practice of the weekend as only five cars had posted timed laps during the first ten minutes, and eight after 15 minutes had elapsed. In the end, it was Max Verstappen the fastest, followed by Sainz, Leclerc, Hamilton, and Perez.
QUALIFYING
It was not only hot but very windy at Paul Ricard for qualifying.
Q1
As expected, Leclerc and Verstappen were fighting each other for the fastest lap, about half a second from Sainz. Then came Perez, and Norris further down the order. Mick Schumacher did an amazing lap on the final part of Q1 climbing up to 9th place but had his time deleted for exceeding track limits, so in the end, it was Gasly, Stroll, Zhou, Schumacher, and Latifi not going through to Q2.
Q2
The second leg of qualifying started with all drivers coming out almost immediately and all of them on soft tires. Lots of action on track for the last few minutes, with the fifteen drivers trying their best to better their respective times, and after some exciting laps, it was Ricciardo, Ocon, Bottas, Vettel, and Albon getting knocked out of qualifying.
Q3
Everybody had soft tires for their last stint. Leclerc won out the first wave, 0.008 of a second ahead of Verstappen. Sainz and Magnussen did not complete a timed lap as both were to start at the back of the grid anyway.
Really exciting finale for Q3 with Ferrari playing it to perfection as Sainz gave Leclerc a tow, enabling the Monegasque to claim Pole Position in France, his 7th this year and 16th in his career. Behind Leclerc came Verstappen, Perez, Hamilton, Norris, Russell, Alonso, Tsunoda, Sainz, and Magnussen.
SUNDAY
The sold-out crowd at Paul Ricard enjoyed a beautiful day in the South of France for the Grand Prix. The temperature was high so hydration was key for the drivers, as was cooling for the power units, and degradation for the tires with the asphalt nearing 57°C.
Everybody started the race on medium tires (yellow), except Bottas, Gasly, and Sainz, on hards (white). Pirelli expected a two-stop race for most, but with 27/28 seconds lost in the pitlane, a one stop was a possibility.
The race started with Leclerc defending from Verstappen and Hamilton overtaking Perez. A few corners into the race and Gasly crashed into Tsunoda, making him spin. The Frenchman was later given a five-second time penalty for causing a collision.
Ferrari: “The pace is good; you’re doing a good job.” Sainz: “It doesn’t feel that way, but ok…”
Fantastic laps between Leclerc defending from a charging Verstappen. The Dutchman came into the pits on lap 17 for new hards, coming out in seventh. Further back, Sainz was now ninth, going longer than most.
On lap 18, Charles Leclerc went straight at turn 11, the safety car was deployed, and everybody came into the pits for a “free stop”. Verstappen was now leading from Hamilton and Perez. Last place Tsunoda retired his AlphaTauri, suffering damage in the opening lap. Bitter disappointment for Ferrari and Leclerc, as well as the fans, negated an amazing battle between the championship leaders.
The race resumed on lap 21, with Verstappen easing away from Hamilton in second. Sainz was now six. A lap later, he made a move on Alonso and was now fifth.
After several laps trying, Sainz finally made a lovely move on Russell around the outside, leading into Signes, and was now P4.
Later on, what racing between Sainz and Perez, with the Spaniard coming out ahead of the Mexican and was now on the final podium place. What a show!
Then, Ferrari decided to box Sainz, losing 42 seconds coming out in ninth with only ten laps to go. The Spaniard began his charge to the front yet again, passing Ricciardo, Ocon, Norris, and Alonso to place himself fifth but more than 21 seconds behind Russel in fourth.
On lap 49, Zhou’s Alfa Romeo stopped on the outside of turn five, and the VSC (Virtual Safety Car) was deployed, lasting only one lap. Russell took advantage and jumped Perez for the last podium place. Behind them, Sainz was making fastest lap after fastest lap but was so far behind to make a dent into the top four
In the end, it was Max Verstappen winning the French Grand Prix, his 27th race victory in Formula 1, equaling Sir Jackie Stewart. Lewis Hamilton finished second in his 300th race in F1, and George Russell held off Sergio Perez to claim third.
Carlos Sainz was voted Driver of the Day by the F1 fans.
Next stop: Hungary.
QUOTES FROM THE PODIUM
““We had really good pace from the start, although following around here, the tires overheated a lot so I couldn’t really go for a move but I stayed calm and stayed close. It was really unlucky for Charles and I’m glad he’s okay, it could have been a really fun race because both cars were so quick! From there I just concentrated on my own race and looked after the tires. The pit lane is so long here so that prevented us from having another pit stop. Today was a great day but there are plenty more races ahead of us and I just always aim for the most points possible, the fight is nowhere near over.””
““What a great result, considering we have been so far off all weekend and that I missed FP1. I wasn’t expecting to fight for second place or a podium, so this is a wonderful result for us. Our team has been amazing when it comes to reliability and it shows that with dedication and focus, we can slowly make our way up. Huge congratulations to the teams back at the factories and the team here. Without them, this wouldn’t have been possible and I’m proud of them. And George did an amazing job today, too.””
““It was a long and tough race. Our pace was strong, but we really struggled with the warm-up of the tires on the restart and Checo was strong today. I was glad to see the checkered flag and come home P3. We’re making a lot of progress and we really need to improve our qualifying performance as we’re lacking consistency. We’re making progress and there is still more to come, thanks to everyone back at the factories in Brackley and Brixworth for their hard work and dedication.””
