Back to original home of motorsport in France, although there was nothing too French to celebrate, it was still an interesting race of sorts. Our 2022 French Grand Prix Results, Lap by Lap Review & Summary will try and explain all you needed to know.
Our review covers what happened in the race so you don’t have to in the laps that matter. Plus we throw in our Race Ratings, the Best (Great) and Worst (Grape) drivers of the race weekend.
The 2022 French Grand Prix Results, Lap by Lap Review & Summary gives you just enough to catch up with. With just a small serving of cynicism. The perfect bite sized review for those who couldn’t be bothered, or don’t have enough time.
And why not check out our latest Grand Prix Power Rankings which highlight our driver of the season so far and the last race.
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2022 French Grand Prix Results
THE LAPS THAT MATTERED
Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Well here are the top laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.
Setting the Scene – Big pre-event chat was that the Mercedes were bringing plenty of upgrades to the French Grand Prix and were a dark horse. Whether they did or not, the improvement overall has been minimal. They remain third best behind Ferrari and Red Bull but well ahead of the midfield. Even an outstanding Lando Norris split the Mercs.
The battle up the front will be interesting with Ferrari taking Pole position but Red Bull the popular opinion for the race. Carlos Sainz is at the back of the grid after penalties, so there’s a side interest.
It is pretty hot, so it will all be about tyres and strategy perhaps than outright pace.
TOP 10 GRID – LEC VER PER HAM NOR RUS ALO TSU RIC OCO
Lap 1 – Pole sitter Charles Leclerc gets away well, Verstappen challenges but settles for second. Lewis Hamilton storms into third and Alonso leaps into fifth. McLarens are 7th and 8th which is good for Ricciardo and not so for Norris. A little bit of locked brakes the only drama from the first half of the lap. A little later Yuki Tsunoda spins at the long straight chicane, possibly getting some assistance from Ocon. Scratch that, plenty of “help” from Ocon. Carlos Sainz makes it up to 17th by end of lap one.
ORDER – LEC VER HAM PER ALO RUS NOR RIC OCO STR
Lap 4 – Max Verstappen is right on Charles Leclerc’s rear already, within a second as the DRS is available on the back straight. Verstappen doesn’t pass, but it is game on and another great battle between these two These two are already four second ahead of Lewis Hamilton in third, who is under massive pressure from Sergio Perez.
Lap 8 – The battle for first is still raging with Max Verstappen showing more restraint than an entire 2021 season. Perhaps he simply has more respect for Leclerc, perhaps Max is more mature with a title under his belt, but no doubt if this was Hamilton-Verstappen there’d be an accident by now.
Some for-the-records now. Ocon passes Ricciardo for 8th, and Carlos Sainz in up to 12th, going at almost a position a lap.
ORDER – LEC VER HAM PER RUS ALO NOR OCO RIC STR
Lap 9 – The pit stops have started already, given an indication of the heat’s effect on tyres. Mainly a bunch of lower midfield runners who probably won’t score a point, but still it might be the only time they are interesting this race.
Lap 13 – Carlos Sainz is in the top ten already, passing Lance Stroll for the final point into the back straight chicane. At the front Leclerc has stretched out the gaps to outside a second, which means no more DRS for Max Verstappen.
Lap 17 – Max Verstappen pits for new tyes, and thank god to a degree as this race was getting boring and a little harder to stay awake for. Verstappen rejoins in 7th behind Lando Norris.
Lap 18 – Leclerc is OUT!!!! TV Coverage shows a Ferrari in the barriers at Turn 11 and it is the race leader!! This brings out the Safety Car and a lot of pit stops. Replays show rear end steps out on the Ferrari and he does a 360 spin before hitting the barriers. Leclerc mentions a stuck throttle in between screaming into the radio. A similar issue Leclerc had last race. He later takes the blame himself as a driver error.
ORDER – VER HAM PER RUS ALO NOR RIC SAI OCO STR
Lap 21 – Safety Car leaves and the race resumes. Not much happening except for Carlos Sainz overtaking two McLarens pretty quickly to be sixth. He gets by Alonso a couple of laps later. But the Spaniard shouldn’t get too excited, he’s earned a five second penalty for an unsafe release from his pitstop, which looking at the replay is fair enough.
Lap 22 – Guanyu Zhou punts Mick Schumacher into a spin at Turn 11/12. Both continue poorer than before. Talking of poor, it’s time for a Latifi check – he’s 18th and not too far away from the cars in front. Safety Car helps.
Lap 32 – After a short nap we realise not much has changed – Verstappen still well ahead and Carlos Sainz is up to fourth. He’s catching Perez for third too. And second isn’t out of the question by race’s end.
ORDER – VER HAM PER SAI RUS ALO NOT RIC OCO STR
Lap 38 – Magnussen and Latifi clash for a position we don’t care about. Both cars continue.
Lap 41 – Carlos Sainz continues to pressure Sergio Perez for third, but there’s a whole heap of radio talk about a pitstop. Not forgetting he has a five second penalty to take. Ferrari tells Sainz to pit just as he is stealing third off Perez with a magic move into the last corner of the lap. Sainz does pit a lap later which drops him to ninth. Ninth! Ferrari look to have blown a podium here. Even on old tyres Sainz would have been able to stay ahead of the car he had passed and squeeze out a five second lead to negate the penalty. They are truly hopeless.
Lap 42 – It’s all happening now, George Russell clashes with Sergio Perez. Nothing major, and both car continue. But they continue battling for positions.
Lap 49 – Guanyu Zhou retires his car which brings out a Virtual Safety Car.
Lap 50 – Virtual Safety Car ends and George Russell catches Perez asleep and steals his third place trophy for now.
Lap 51 – Carlos Sainz sets fastest lap. He gets close to Perez-Russell but not enough laps yet. And needs a better team for strategy.
Last Lap – Max Verstappen cruises over the finish line for one of his easier wins. George Russell and Sergio Perez continue squabbling over third place but Russell keeps it. Lewis Hamilton finishes a season-high second place in his 300th race. The two Aston Martin battle all around the track for the last lap but it settled for Lance Stroll. Good points for Alpine and McLaren in their battle for fourth best team.
FINAL ORDER – VER HAM RUS PER SAI ALO NOR OCO RIC STR
2022 French Grand Prix Results
RACE RATING
Was it a good race, loads of action, tense, or just a big, fat, snooze-fest.
We rate the big race itself so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.
SEASON IMPORTANCE – 7 / 10
Another win for Red Bull, another choke from Ferrari/Leclerc. Verstappen extends lead, Ferrari fall further behind. Ferrari’s effort with Sainz’s strategy doesn’t fill one with great confidence for the future either.
ON TRACK ACTION – 5 / 10
A good battle at the front between Leclerc-Verstappen for the first part of the race without an overtake. The George Russell-Sergio Perez battle with an overtake bookended the race nicely for action. Carlos Sainz produced some entertainment in his run from the back of the grid to top six passing a lot of cars. In between there was a few passes here and there, and not super exciting.
ENDING 5 / 10
Not much happening right at the front, but Perez v Russell was some kind of fun. Ferrari v Sainz for pit stop strategy was some more entertainment. But the race result was in the bag for most positions.
OVERALL RATING 17 / 30
Whether it was us or the race, but a race where a quick nap was needed is a good indication it wasn’t a classic. Watch the Mini race, check the Championship standings, move on.
2022 SEASON RATINGS SO FAR
Want to know what we thought of previous races? Or which ones to to back and watch?
R1 Bahrain Grand Prix 26/30
R2 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix 21/30
R3 Australian Grand Prix 16/30
R4 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix 17/30
R5 Miami Grand Prix 19/30
R6 Spanish Grand Prix 17/30
R7 Monaco Grand Prix 24/30
R8 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 22/30
R9 Canadian Grand Prix 21/30
R10 British Grand Prix 26.5/30
R11 Austrian Grand Prix 24/30
Season Average – 21.2 / 30
2022 French Grand Prix Results
GREAT & GRAPE OF THE RACE
Here we go through the field and highlight the very best (Great) of the race, and the plodders, the over-ambitious, the out of luck, and simply hopeless (Grape).
These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. Five points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 /-2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.
It used to be called the good, bad and ugly, but everyone is using that now. And who doesn’t like grapes.
THE GREAT-EST – CARLOS SAINZ
Went from the back of the grid because of car penalties to what should have been second or third. Screwed by his car’s unreliability in the first place when he was quick for a lot of the weekend sucked. Then his team let him go from his pit stop dangerously which earned him a five second penalty. Then his team pit him late in the race when he was battling the top five car, and he probably would have finished second and with a five second gap.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
MAX VERSTAPPEN – Eased to victory, extends his Championship lead as his nearest rival Charles Leclerc spins out of the lead. Job done.
LEWIS HAMILTON – Solid second place in his 300th Grand Prix. Mercedes showing OK pace in the race, if not qualifying.
GEORGE RUSSELL – Another good weekend, and a podium hard earned after a long battle with Sergio Perez.
FERNANDO ALONSO – Best of the rest and another solid drive.
DANIEL RICCIARDO – A steady drive to points, and only just behind his team mate. He’ll have to take that based on recent races.
THE GRAPE-EST – CHARLES LECLERC
A third race where he has retired from the lead. This time was mainly Leclerc’s fault, and while he did take responsibility for the off, it was still a bad look for the championship. He falls further behind Verstappen in the Championship
DIS-HONOURABLE MENTIONS
FERRARI – Terrible weekend on Carlos Sainz’s behalf.
YUKI TSUNODA – An early clash, which eventually led to a mid-race retirement.
NICHOLAS LATIFI – Another waste of a seat in F1 weekend.
2022 F1 Season Power Rankings
Stay tuned for our Power Rankings from the race soon as it is currently being calculated.
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