Red Bull unstoppable in F1: Max Verstappen wins French Grand Prix and «Checo» Pérez is third

(CNN) – The Dutchman Max Verstappen, of Red Bull, extended his advantage in front of the championship of Formula 1 (F1) with an exciting victory at the French Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Mexican Sergio “Checo” Pérez, his teammate, took the podium in third place.

Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton with just over a lap to go at the Paul Ricard Circuit, as Red Bull opted to make two pit stops during the race, while Hamilton and Mercedes only pitted once.

This meant that the Dutch driver was quicker in the final stages, beating Valtterri Bottas, from Mercedes just like Hamilton, on lap 44 before setting his sights on the seven-time world champion Briton.

“Checo” Pérez, who also pitted twice, completed the podium behind Hamilton as he passed a frustrated Bottas in the final laps.

Members of the Red Bull team cheer on Verstappen as he takes the checkered flag.

While Mercedes will regret making a single pit stop, Red Bull benefited from better tactics and clinched its first double podium of 2021.

“We made the decision to make both stops, luckily in the end it worked. We had to work hard for it, ”Verstappen, who posted his third first place of the season, told ESPN.

With this victory, Verstappen leads Hamilton by 12 points in the overall standings and also marks Red Bull’s third consecutive victory in a race.

“We have to find some rhythm, that’s for sure,” defending champion Hamilton told ESPN.

“They could see that most of the time we lost today has been on the straights. We definitely have to dig deeper and find out why that happens. “

Hamilton had to settle for second place in the French Grand Prix.

Although Verstappen started on pole position, he quickly lost his lead to Hamilton at the start of the race by going off the track on the second lap.

But the drivers’ first pit stops turned out to be a crucial moment, as Hamilton, who came in after his rival, lost first place to Verstappen on lap 21.

Verstappen pitted again on lap 34 to restore the lead to Hamilton, but it turned out to be a cunning move on the part of Red Bull, whose cars were much faster than Mercedes on cooler tires in the closing moments of the race. .

Pursuing his first career champion title, Verstappen now has 13 wins to his credit. The F1 season resumes next weekend with the Styrian Grand Prix in Austria.