Dominant victory for Lewis Hamilton at the French Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton scored his 65th Formula 1 victory in a carer today at Circuit Paul Ricard, in the French Grand Prix which returned to the F1 calendar for the first time since 2008.

Hamilton converted his 75th pole position into a dominant win ahead of Max Verstappen (Red Bull). Kimi Raikkonen (Scuderia Ferrari) defeated Red Bull’s Dani Ricciardo in a fight for the third podium spot.

Sebastian Vettel finished fifth, recovering from a first-lap crash on Turn 1 when he hit the back of Valtteri Bottas’ car. Both drivers had to pit to change front wing (Vettel) or tyre (Bottas), dropping to the back of the field. Vettel also earned a 5-second penalty for causing a collision. Bottas recovered to the seventh-place finish, behind Kevin Magnussen (Haas). The other point-scorers are Carlos Sainz (8th, Renault), Nico Hulkenberg (9th, Renault) and Charles Leclerc (10th, Sauber).

After eight races, Lewis Hamilton moved to the top of the championship standings. He has 145 points, fourteen more than Vettel.

The next race is the Austrian Grand Prix at Red Bull Ring, scheduled for July 1.

Check the full results of the French Grand Prix

Photos: Mercedes,