Sebastian Vettel denied Lewis Hamilton a ‘grand slam’ result in the French Grand Prix by taking the fastest lap on the final lap of the race.
Hamilton had already started from pole position and led every lap of the race on his way to victory. His final lap of the race, on 29-lap-old hard (C2) tyres, was a 1’32.764, which initially looked good enough for the fastest lap and a ‘grand slam’.But Vettel had saved an unused set of soft tyres for the race, had them fitted for the final lap, and beat Hamilton’s time by 0.024 seconds. That illustrated the performance gap between the two cars, though Vettel said afterwards he’d not been able to fully use his stored energy on his final tour.
Williams performed the fastest pit stop of the race for Robert Kubica, who finished ahead of his team mate George Russell for the first time this year. Russell had to make an extra pit stop for a new front wing due to damage he incurred when he hit a bollard after going off the track while trying to pass Kubica.
Daniil Kvyat made the most progress during the race, gaining five places from his starting position, the last coming when he muscled past team mate Alexander Albon. The other Toro Rosso was on harder tyres and lost time hitting a bollard at the start of the lap.
However Antonio Giovinazzi lost the most places and missed out on a potential first points score. He started inside the top 10 but finished six places lower, having gone just seven laps on his original set of worn soft compound tyres.
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2019 French Grand Prix lap chart
The positions of each driver on every lap. Click name to highlight, right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
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2019 French Grand Prix race chart
The gaps between each driver on every lap compared to the leader’s average lap time. Very large gaps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
Position change
| Driver | Start position | Lap one position change | Race position change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 7 | 0 | 2 |
| Charles Leclerc | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Max Verstappen | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Pierre Gasly | 9 | 1 | -2 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 8 | -2 | 1 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 13 | 1 | 4 |
| Romain Grosjean | 16 | -2 | |
| Kevin Magnussen | 15 | 1 | -2 |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Lando Norris | 5 | -1 | -5 |
| Sergio Perez | 14 | 1 | 2 |
| Lance Stroll | 17 | 2 | 4 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 12 | 1 | 4 |
| Antonio Giovinazzi | 10 | 1 | -6 |
| Daniil Kvyat | 19 | -1 | 5 |
| Alexander Albon | 11 | -5 | -4 |
| George Russell | 20 | 1 | 1 |
| Robert Kubica | 18 | 1 | 0 |
2019 French Grand Prix lap times
All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded). Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and toggle drivers using the control below:
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2019 French Grand Prix fastest laps
Each driver’s fastest lap:
| Rank | Driver | Car | Fastest lap | Gap | On lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’32.740 | 53 | |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’32.764 | 0.024 | 53 |
| 3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’33.586 | 0.846 | 43 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’33.828 | 1.088 | 40 |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda | 1’34.162 | 1.422 | 38 |
| 6 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren-Renault | 1’34.561 | 1.821 | 52 |
| 7 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1’34.754 | 2.014 | 45 |
| 8 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1’34.873 | 2.133 | 47 |
| 9 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’34.924 | 2.184 | 44 |
| 10 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’34.950 | 2.210 | 46 |
| 11 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’35.014 | 2.274 | 42 |
| 12 | Alexander Albon | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’35.029 | 2.289 | 51 |
| 13 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’35.115 | 2.375 | 50 |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly | Red Bull-Honda | 1’35.150 | 2.410 | 42 |
| 15 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Renault | 1’35.197 | 2.457 | 47 |
| 16 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’35.225 | 2.485 | 43 |
| 17 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’35.691 | 2.951 | 42 |
| 18 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’35.692 | 2.952 | 50 |
| 19 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1’35.830 | 3.090 | 51 |
| 20 | Robert Kubica | Williams-Mercedes | 1’36.608 | 3.868 | 50 |
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2019 French Grand Prix tyre strategies
The tyre strategies for each driver:
| Stint 1 | Stint 2 | Stint 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | C3 (24) | C2 (29) | |
| Valtteri Bottas | C3 (23) | C2 (30) | |
| Charles Leclerc | C3 (21) | C2 (32) | |
| Max Verstappen | C3 (20) | C2 (33) | |
| Sebastian Vettel | C3 (25) | C2 (26) | C4 (2) |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | C3 (19) | C2 (34) | |
| Daniel Ricciardo | C3 (16) | C2 (36) | |
| Kimi Raikkonen | C2 (31) | C3 (21) | |
| Nico Hulkenberg | C2 (34) | C3 (18) | |
| Lando Norris | C3 (18) | C2 (34) | |
| Pierre Gasly | C4 (17) | C2 (35) | |
| Sergio Perez | C3 (18) | C2 (34) | |
| Lance Stroll | C2 (39) | C3 (13) | |
| Daniil Kvyat | C2 (32) | C3 (20) | |
| Alexander Albon | C3 (25) | C2 (27) | |
| Antonio Giovinazzi | C4 (7) | C2 (27) | C3 (18) |
| Kevin Magnussen | C3 (16) | C2 (36) | |
| Robert Kubica | C3 (24) | C2 (27) | |
| George Russell | C3 (25) | C2 (8) | C3 (18) |
| Romain Grosjean | C2 (31) | C3 (13) |
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2019 French Grand Prix pit stop times
How long each driver’s pit stops took:
| Driver | Team | Pit stop time | Gap | On lap | |
| 1 | Robert Kubica | Williams | 29.792 | 24 | |
| 2 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren | 29.920 | 0.128 | 19 |
| 3 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 29.975 | 0.183 | 31 |
| 4 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 30.044 | 0.252 | 25 |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 30.118 | 0.326 | 20 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 30.186 | 0.394 | 24 |
| 7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 30.203 | 0.411 | 21 |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly | Red Bull | 30.228 | 0.436 | 17 |
| 9 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 30.233 | 0.441 | 32 |
| 10 | Alexander Albon | Toro Rosso | 30.279 | 0.487 | 25 |
| 11 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 30.412 | 0.620 | 23 |
| 12 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 30.468 | 0.676 | 51 |
| 13 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 30.576 | 0.784 | 18 |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 30.832 | 1.040 | 16 |
| 15 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 30.837 | 1.045 | 31 |
| 16 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 30.842 | 1.050 | 7 |
| 17 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | 30.849 | 1.057 | 39 |
| 18 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 30.884 | 1.092 | 34 |
| 19 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 31.031 | 1.239 | 16 |
| 20 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 31.697 | 1.905 | 34 |
| 21 | George Russell | Williams | 31.950 | 2.158 | 25 |
| 22 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point | 37.286 | 7.494 | 18 |
| 23 | George Russell | Williams | 37.494 | 7.702 | 33 |
2019 French Grand Prix
- 2019 French Grand Prix Star Performers
- Top ten pictures from the 2019 French Grand Prix
- Hamilton urges change in F1 after supreme display in France
- Mercedes poised to equal McLaren’s 31-year-old consecutive wins record
- Paddock Diary: French Grand Prix day four
