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As it happenedended

French Grand Prix 2019: Lewis Hamilton powers to victory to stretch F1 championship lead over Valtteri Bottas

Re-live all the action from the French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard

Jack de Menezes
Sunday 23 June 2019 14:23 BST
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Formula One: 1000 races in numbers

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Lewis Hamilton dominated from start to finish to win a second consecutive French Grand Prix and take his fourth victory in a row, leaving all of his rivals in his wake at Paul Ricard.

Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas finished a lengthy 18 second behind the championship leader, and the Finn nearly lost second place as Ferrari's Charles Leclerc had a run at him into the final corner as he struggled to reheat his tyres following a late virtual safety car, though the chequered flag came one lap too soon for the Monogasque.

Max Verstappen kept Sebastian Vettel at bay to take fourth, with Carlos Sainz impressing for McLaren in sixth. However, a hydraulic problem saw Lando Norris lose seventh on the final lap as Daniel Ricciardo, Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Hulkenberg flashed past to relegate him to 10th. Re-live the action below.

What time does it start?

The French Grand Prix takes place on Sunday 23 June at 2:10pm BST (3:10 CET).

How can I watch it?

The race will be shown live on Sky Sports F1 from 12:30pm BST.

Starting grid

1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 28.319secs

2 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1:28.605

3 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:28.965

4 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:29.409

5 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:29.418

6 Carlos Sainz (Spa) McLaren 1:29.522

7 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:29.799

8 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Renault 1:29.918

9 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Red Bull 1:30.184

10 Antonio Giovinazzi (Ita) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:33.420

11 Alexander Albon (Tha) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:30.461

12 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:30.533

13 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:30.544

14 Sergio Perez (Mex) Racing Point 1:30.738

15 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:31.440

16 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:31.626

17 Lance Stroll (Can) Racing Point 1:31.726

18 Robert Kubica (Pol) Williams 1:33.205

19 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:31.564 + 10-place grid penalty

20 George Russell (Gbr) Williams 1:32.789 + 25-place grid penalty

Lap 16: Strangely enough Giovinazzi remains the only car to have stopped yet. Towards the back of the field, the two Haas' are really struggling for straight line speed as first Albon and then Kvyat get past Magnussen to move up the field, and both he and Grosjean are clearly having issues with their performance this weekend.

Jack de Menezes23 June 2019 14:39

Lap 17: Renault are the first to blink as they bring in Ricciardo from ninth place, with Magnussen pitting straight after him.

Jack de Menezes23 June 2019 14:40

Lap 18: Gasly stops next time by and puts the hard tyres on that will hopefully take him to the end. He gets back out ahead of Ricciardo, though the Renault is right on his tail as the Red Bull returns to the track in 15th.

Jack de Menezes23 June 2019 14:42

Lap 19: Ricciardo has DRS coming onto the Mistral straight and takes the position off Gasly by sliding around the outside. McLaren respond by pitting Norris, and although that's to cover off Ricciardo, there's the genuine chance that he gets the undercut on Sainz here. That would ruffle a few feathers, although Norris is out into traffic.

Jack de Menezes23 June 2019 14:44

Lap 20: Sainz does pit next time by, but he's out in open air as Norris has been stuck behind Kvyat for his out-lap.

Jack de Menezes23 June 2019 14:45

Lap 21: Verstappen is the first of the frontrunners to stop, and Ferrari tell Vettel to do the opposite of whatever Verstappen does. They call for him to go as long as possible and the German agrees before getting his head down, and instead Leclerc pits at the end of the lap.

Jack de Menezes23 June 2019 14:47

Lap 23: So conflicting reports for drivers out there, with Hamilton reporting that his tyres are still in good shape, while Verstappen says he's still struggling with the throttle. Bottas pits at the end of the lap to cover off those behind him, though Vettel is yet to stop and moves up to second place.

Jack de Menezes23 June 2019 14:51

Lap 25: Hamilton pits at the end of the 24th lap, and despite the painfully slow pit lane speed limit he's back out not only in front of Bottas but also in front of Vettel, who is yet to pit and locks up going into the first corner.

Jack de Menezes23 June 2019 14:52

Lap 26: Vettel is the last of the top six to stop and returns to the track about four seconds behind Verstappen, so it looks like the battle fourth could be the only one worth paying attention to at this stage.

Jack de Menezes23 June 2019 14:55

The best entertainment so far has come above the track...not on it.

Jack de Menezes23 June 2019 14:56

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