French Grand Prix: Race Stats and Facts

Lewis Hamilton secured a lights-to-flag victory in France as the Mercedes driver picked up a sixth win from his last seven race starts. The Briton’s 79th career victory was his 49th from pole position, while he also picked up his 200th career points finish from 237 F1 starts. Here are some other notable statistics from the French Grand Prix.

• Valtteri Bottas’ second-place result was the Finn’s 20th consecutive top 5 finish. After a strong start to the season where he claimed wins in Australia and Azerbaijan, Bottas has not led Hamilton at any stage of the race in the last four Grands Prix.

• Mercedes cars dominated the weekend at Paul Ricard as they secured their 50th one-two finish in Formula 1. The Silver Arrows also claimed their 10th consecutive race win, matching their best ever run. The world champions are now just one victory away from McLaren’s record of 11 consecutive victories set during the 1988 season. The stat could swap hands at McLaren’s home race at Silverstone.

• Lewis Hamilton was denied his sixth Grand Slam win as Sebastian Vettel grabbed the fastest lap in the dying moments. But Paul Ricard is clearly a circuit Hamilton loves - the Briton has led every racing lap but one since the track was re-introduced to the calendar in 2018, while Mercedes have topped every session and qualifying segment that they have competed in at the classic French circuit.

• Charles Leclerc had the running of his team mate this weekend, but failed to make inroads into the commanding Mercedes out front. Leclerc’s podium is the rookie’s third of the season and his third P3 of 2019. When will he grab that illustrious first win?

• Max Verstappen’s comfortable fourth place means the Dutchman continues his unbroken points scoring record in 2019, having not finished outside the top 5 all season. With team mate Pierre Gasly in P10, Verstappen has not been beaten by a team mate when he has finished since Monaco 2018.

• McLaren’s best qualifying since 2016 was matched with only their second double points finish of the season. Carlos Sainz’s sixth place saw the Woking squad win the midfield battle, while the result matched the team's best finish of the season after strong results in Bahrain and Monaco.

• Despite starting behind team mate Antonio Giovanazzi, Kimi Raikkonen was on a charge in France. The Alfa Romeo driver finished in P7 as he ended a three-race run where he has failed to score any points.

• Robert Kubica has struggled to challenge his team mate at the start of 2019, but he may be beginning to find his form. Russell was beaten by his experienced partner for the first time this season as the Williams pair finished P18 and P20 respectively.