Verstappen equals Stewart in the all-time win list, Mercedes record their first double podium of the season and five drivers fail to reach the chequered flag. Here are the facts and statistics from the 2022 French Grand Prix!
VERSTAPPEN WINS
Max Verstappen took victory at the 2022 French Grand Prix. He recorded his seventh victory of the 2022 season – his first since the Canadian Grand Prix. This was his 27th win, equalling Jackie Stewart for eighth in the all-time F1 win list.
Verstappen is the fourth driver to take back-to-back wins at Circuit Paul Ricard, after Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost and Lewis Hamilton, while Red Bull become the fifth team to take back-to-back wins at Circuit Paul Ricard. Renault, Williams, McLaren and Mercedes are the other teams to have done so.
With Verstappen winning and Sergio Perez finishing fourth, Red Bull become the third team, after Ferrari and Mercedes to have scored 6,000 points in Formula 1.
This is the first time that the driver starting second on the grid has won consecutive races since three races in a row were won from second at the 2019 Austrian, British and German Grands Prix.
This was the first time that the driver starting second on the grid at Circuit Paul Ricard has won since Nigel Mansell did so in 1986.
ON THE FRENCH GRAND PRIX PODIUM
Joining Max Verstappen on the podium were Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. Mercedes recorded a double podium result for the first time since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
This was the first time that Hamilton and Russell have shared a podium as team-mates. It’s the second time they’ve finished in the top three together, having last done so at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix. Verstappen also won on that day.
This was the fifth race to feature a Red Bull-Mercedes-Mercedes podium. It last happened at the 2021 Dutch Grand Prix.
With second place, Hamilton records his best result of the season to date. This was his fifth podium in 2022. Hamilton continues his record of never finishing outside of the top two at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Russell recorded his fourth podium – and fourth third place finish – of the season. Russell has finished in the top five at every race he has finished so far this year.
Russell is the 31st different driver to finish on the podium at Circuit Paul Ricard.
IN THE POINTS
Carlos Sainz gained 14 places on his way to fifth place in the 2022 French Grand Prix. It’s the most positions he has gained in a race since gaining 17 in the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix. This was the first time Sainz has finished in the top five at the French Grand Prix, as well as the first time he has gained positions at the event.
With sixth place, Fernando Alonso scored for the seventh race in a row. It’s the first time he’s scored at seven consecutive races since the eight races between the 2017 Mexican Grand Prix and the 2018 Spanish Grand Prix. It’s the tenth time in his career that he has scored at seven or more consecutive races.
On the fourth lap of the race, Alonso overtook Kimi Raikkonen as the driver to have completed the most Grand Prix laps in Formula 1 history.
Esteban Ocon finished in eighth place, recording points at his home race for the first time in his career.
This was the first time since 2018 that both of the Enstone-based team’s drivers have scored points at the French Grand Prix.
Daniel Ricciardo finished in ninth place for a second consecutive race. This is the first time he has scored at two races in a row since the 2021 Italian and Russian Grands Prix.
With both Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo scoring, this was the third consecutive French Grand Prix in which McLaren have scored with both cars. However, this is only the second time in the last ten races at Circuit Paul Ricard that no McLaren driver has finished in the top six.
Lance Stroll scored for the fourth time this season. He is yet to finish above tenth place in 2022. His latest point sees him overtake Alex Albon in the standings.
THE OTHER FINISHERS
Finishing in 11th place, just behind his team-mate, Sebastian Vettel failed to score at the French Grand Prix for the first time since its return to the calendar. Like Vettel, Valtteri Bottas also failed to score here for the first time. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are now the only drivers to have scored in every French Grand Prix since 2018.
With Mick Schumacher finishing 15th and Kevin Magnussen retiring, this was the first time that Haas have failed to score since the Canadian Grand Prix.
THE RETIREES
Crashing out while leading, Charles Leclerc recorded his third retirement of the year. This is the third time in the last seven races that Leclerc has retired whilst leading the race.
Leclerc became the first polesitter at Circuit Paul Ricard who failed to win since the last Ferrari driver to take pole at the track – Nigel Mansell in 1990. He is only the third driver to retire having taken pole at the circuit. The other was Ayrton Senna in 1986.
Yuki Tsunoda was the first driver to retire from the French Grand Prix. He recorded his third non finish of the year.
Nicholas Latifi retired for a second consecutive race. This is the first time he has recorded successive retirements since the 2021 Bahrain and Emilia Romagna Grands Prix.
Zhou Guanyu recorded the fifth retirement of his career. This was his fifth retirement in the last eight races. This was the former Sauber team’s first DNF at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Kevin Magnussen failed to finish for the fourth time in the last eight races.
All five drivers who retired recorded their first retirement from the French Grand Prix.
