The grid
1 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari
2 Max Verstappen (Neth) Red Bull
3 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes
4 Lewis Hamilton (GB) Mercedes
5 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas
6 Lando Norris (GB) McLaren
7 Kimi Räikkönen (Fin) Alfa Romeo
8 Antonio Giovinazzi (It) Alfa Romeo
9 Pierre Gasly (Fr) Red Bull
10 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari
11 Romain Grosjean (Fr) Haas
12 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault
13 Alexander Albon (Thai) Toro Rosso
14 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Renault
15 Carlos Sainz (Sp) McLaren
16 Sergio Pérez (Mex) Racing Point
17 Lance Stroll (Can) Racing Point
18 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Toro Rosso
19 George Russell (GB) Williams
20 Robert Kubica (Pol) Williams
Preamble
Three months ago in Bahrain, Charles Leclerc was cruising to his first-ever Grand Prix win and threatening to shake up the F1 title race. Then, with 11 laps to go, his Ferrari gave out. Lewis Hamilton apologetically rolled past Leclerc to take the chequered flag, and normal service was resumed.
Hamilton has won five of the six races since; the other was won by his team-mate, Valtteri Bottas. In the constructors’ championship, Mercedes have more points than Ferrari and Red Bull put together, and Hamilton’s dominant summer has left the paddock worried about F1’s chronic lack of drama.
That might change today thanks to Leclerc, who begins on pole after a storming run in qualifying. Hamilton’s three-place grid penalty means last year’s winner here, Max Verstappen, starts alongside him in an impossibly young front row.
Hamilton starts in fourth behind Bottas, with another young gun, McLaren’s Lando Norris in fifth and Sebastian Vettel down in ninth. Even if Hamilton does make it five wins on the spin, this should be more exciting than the ennui of the French Grand Prix.
