Lewis Hamilton enjoyed a comfortable Sunday afternoon drive around Paul Ricard to claim victory at the French GP after his two main rivals collided at Turn 1.
Sebastian Vettel tried to make the most of his Ultrasoft tyres at the start off the line but would find himself boxed in behind the two Mercedes’ on the run to the first corner.
Pulling out of an overtake, the Ferrari driver would then lock his brakes approaching Turn 1 and hit the back of Valtteri Bottas, damaging his front wing and puncturing the left-rear tyre of the Finn’s Silver Arrow.
Both would put for repairs, promoting Max Verstappen upto second in the Red Bull with Carlos Sainz running third for Renault in the early stages, having overtaken Daniel Ricciardo.
That wouldn’t be the only action on a chaotic first lap as at Turn 3, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly would collide taking both Frenchman out of their home race and necessitating a Safety Car to clear the debris away.
The four-lap pause would allow Vettel and Bottas to catch the back of the field after their pit-stops, with several other drivers also moving to the Soft compound tyre, potentially looking to go to the end of the race.
When the race did resume, the Ferrari and Mercedes wasted little time in starting to gain positions, with Vettel actually passing Alonso at Turn 3, with the Spaniard going into a spin by himself.
The German’s race would be compromised though, as the stewards gave him a five-second time penalty for causing the collision at the start.
Up front, Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen would pass Sainz as overtaking proved much easier around Paul Ricard than many expected but nothing was bothering Hamilton as he opened up a four-second margin in the lead over Verstappen in second.
What was notable as Vettel & Bottas made their way through the pack was how much easier it was for the Ferrari driver as he quickly found himself back in the top 10 and ahead of the midfield while the Mercedes, with some floor damage, found it a little harder.
The race did enter a lull as teams watched out for a possible threat of rain, however, when it faded, the two Red Bulls would kick-start the pit-stop phase switching to the Soft compound tyre.
Verstappen and Ricciardo would come out either side of the recovering Vettel, though the Australian quite quickly caught and passed his former teammate at Turn 11.
Hamilton’s advantage had grown to seven-seconds before Verstappen’s stop and that allowed him to wait until he approached traffic, some seven laps later, to pit and change tyres.
The world champion would briefly lose the lead to Raikkonen in that time, as the Finn went further than any of the leading drivers despite starting on the less durable Ultrasoft.
Able to run the quicker Supersoft to the finish, he would catch and pass his teammate before doing the same to a slow Ricciardo to claim the final podium place.
Bottas would opt to pit for a second time for fresher tyres but a mistake at the rear meant it was a slow stop, allowing Vettel to also change tyres and serve his penalty while staying ahead of the Mercedes.
A late Virtual Safety Car, caused by a tyre failure for Lance Stroll, couldn’t halt Hamilton though as the Briton took the checkered flag by seven seconds from Verstappen with Raikkonen a further 18 seconds back in third.
Ricciardo was fourth with Vettel managing the best he could in fifth.
Kevin Magnussen benefitted from a late engine issue for Sainz to inherit sixth, beating Bottas. The Renault driver would still achieve eighth ahead of teammate Nico Hulkenberg in ninth as Charles Leclerc completed the top 10 for Sauber.
No French driver would score a point with Romain Grosjean in 11th, ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne in 12th for McLaren.
His teammate Fernando Alonso had a strange afternoon, complaining over the radio and would pit late on simply to attempt the fastest lap, which was to no avail, finishing last of the classified finishers in 16th.
The fourth retiree, after Ocon, Gasly and Stroll, would be Sergio Perez as the Mexican was forced to pit with an engine issue.
Back at the front though, it was all smiles for Hamilton as he regained the championship lead by 14 points from Vettel with the action coming fast and furious as teams head straight to Spielberg for the Austrian Grand Prix in a week’s time.