Hamilton cruises to French GP victory; Vettel P5 after clash

Lewis Hamilton dominated proceedings in Sunday's French Grand Prix to take his third victory of the year and re-claim the lead of the Formula 1 drivers' championship as title rival Sebastian Vettel could only finish fifth following a first-lap clash that resulted in a time penalty.

Starting from pole, Hamilton was able to dodge a chaotic first lap that saw Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas collide with Vettel before pulling clear of Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo through the opening stint of the race, creating a healthy buffer at the front.

Hamilton only lost the lead for a single lap when he made his pit stop before crusing home with a seven-second buffer over Verstappen in second place, recording his first French Grand Prix victory and opening up a 14-point lead at the top of the drivers' standings in the process.

Despite making a flying start off the line, Vettel's hopes of victory were dashed at the first corner when he locked up on the inside, causing him to career into Bottas and send the cars into a spin, with both sustaining damage in the process. The Safety Car was deployed to allow the debris to be cleared from both Bottas and Vettel's clash, and a crash between Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly that eliminated both drivers on the opening lap of their home race.

Both were forced to pit for repairs, with Vettel receiving a five-second time penalty for causing a collision. However, the Ferrari driver wasted little time in picking his way back up the order, easing back into the points and running sixth behind Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen by Lap 18. Bottas was unable to enjoy a similar rate of progress, though, as he was hindered by a damaged floor on his Mercedes W09 car.

Low tyre degradation gave Vettel hope of getting to the end of the race on the tyres he took at the end of Lap 1, and he was in contention for a podium finish when both Red Bull drivers pitted at mid-distance. Verstappen emerged ahead of Vettel, with Ricciardo returning to the track behind the Ferrari driver, who still had a five-second time penalty to be applied.

However, Vettel was powerless to stop Ricciardo from passing thanks to the Red Bull driver's fresher tyres, while Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen was also able to sweep past with ease after making the change to Supersofts at his pit stop following a long opening stint. After Bottas made a second stop, Ferrari opted for a free stop on Vettel's car so he could take his time penalty and fit a set of Ultrasofts in case a Safety Car arrived late on.

Raikkonen's strategy worked well as Ricciardo struggled for pace in the second stint, as well as losing time when trying to lap Lance Stroll, allowing the Ferrari to close up. Raikkonen made an easy pass at the Turn 8 aided by DRS, clinching third place for Ferrari in the process behind Hamilton and Verstappen.

Behind Vettel in fifth, Kevin Magnussen and Haas returned to the points after two races away, holding off Bottas through the closing stages to secure sixth. The Dane had been trailing Carlos Sainz Jr., who ran as high as third following the opening lap melee, only to suffer a loss of power with two laps to go. The Renault driver was nevertheless able to hold on for eighth ahead of teammate Nico Hulkenberg in P9.

Charles Leclerc's impressive French Grand Prix weekend ended on a fine note as he picked up one point for finishing 10th. The Sauber driver fought hard through the opening stages with the likes of Magnussen and Raikkonen, but his car's lack of pace saw him slip back through the race, leaving him to settle for P10 come the chequered flag.

Romain Grosjean's point-less start to the season for Haas continued as he finished 13 second down on Leclerc, taking P11, having also been hit with a five-second time penalty for causing a collision on the opening lap.

McLaren had its third straight race without points as Stoffel Vandoorne finished 12th, with teammate Fernando Alonso parking up on the final lap due to a number of issues, leaving the Spaniard irate over the team radio.

Marcus Ericsson finsihed 13th for Sauber ahead of Toro Rosso's Brendon Hartley, with Sergey Sirotkin the last running finisher in 15th for Williams. Teammate Lance Stroll suffered a tyre failure with three laps remaining, causing him to go off-track and retire from the track at Signes.