Charles Leclerc's Ferrari being lifted off track
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc had held the lead from the start when he crashed out

Max Verstappen won the French Grand Prix after Charles Leclerc crashed out of the lead.

Two laps after the Red Bull had made its first pit stop, the Ferrari driver lost control of his car at the Beausset right-handed track.

With 10 races to go, Verstappen leads by 63 points.

Lewis Hamilton took a strong second and his Mercedes team-mate George Russell third and the final podium place after a fight with Red Bull'sSergio Perez in the closing laps.

Carlos Sainz questioned his team's decision to make a second pit stop just after he had taken third place from Perez.

What happened to Leclerc?

Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen
Charles Leclerc withstood early pressure from Verstappen, who pitted first for new tyres just before the Ferrari driver crashed

There were many questions as to who would win the race after Leclerc's mistake.

After that, Leclerc extended his lead to more than a second, preventing Verstappen from using the overtaking aid, to make his lead a little more comfortable.

Verstappen was brought in for his first pit stop on the 16th.

When Leclerc stayed out, the question was how long he would run before his stop, and if he could regain the lead from Verstappen.

After the long Mistral straight and the flat-out Signes curve, there was nothing that mattered when the Ferrari spun at the double right corner.

Given the speed at which he lost control, Leclerc spun across the run off area before entering the barriers.

He said over the radio that he couldn't go on the throttle.

He let out an anguished "No!" after learning of the consequences of his mistake.

Leclerc said it was not good enough. I am performing at a very high level since the beginning of the season but if I keep making these mistakes it is pointless to be performing at this high level.

After three races, Leclerc had a 46 point lead over Verstappen.

Since the start of the season, the errors have mostly been from Ferrari, with two engine failures and two strategy errors while leading, but now Leclerc has made a big one, to add to the small mistake that turned third place into sixth at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix back in

Verstappen in control; Hamilton impressive

Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez
Lewis Hamilton comfortably held off Sergio Perez throughout the race after passing the Mexican at the start

Verstappen was in control at the front.

Those behind Verstappen were given a chance to catch up to Red Bull after the field was closed for marshals to remove a car.

Verstappen held off Hamilton at the start of the second half.

Hamilton jumped Perez at the start, moving into third place and driving a strong race, holding the Mexican off in the early laps before edging away into a three-second lead by the time of Leclerc's crash.

Hamilton was quicker than Perez for the rest of the race and left him to fight with Russell and Sainz for the podium.

A three-way fight for the podium

While debating with his team if he should make a second pit stop on his inverted tyre strategy, his car passed Russell and then set about Perez.

Sainz finally passed Perez at the final corner after some marvellous race craft through the final sector of the lap, but his engineer called him into the pits during the battle.

Sainz claimed third place after saying not now.

Sainz questioned if he could have pulled away from Perez after he was called for fresh tires.

Sainz said he didn't agree with the conclusion that his medium tires wouldn't last the rest of the race.

He fell to seventh place. The Alpine of Fernando Alonso was fought back by Sainz.

Perez was able to fight off Russell.

Russell felt that the decision to not order Perez to give the place back to the Mercedes was wrong.

Russell caught Perez napping at the restart when the virtual safety car was on the track.

Russell sneaked ahead of Perez on the twisting straight to Turn 14.

Perez came back at Russell and an error from the Mercedes driver on the last lap brought him back into the danger zone, but Russell held on to win the race.

Alonso took sixth to head the midfield after a brilliant move at the first corner in which he passed both Russell and Norris and then clever tyre management.

The next four were followed by Ocon, Ricciardo, and Lance Stroll, who took the last point.

Banner Image Reading Around the BBC - BlueFooter - Blue