Max Verstappen hails very rewarding French GP win but expects Lewis Hamilton response

F1: Red Bull's Verstappen gets in shape for new season

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Max Verstappen triumphed to victory in Paul Ricard, and extended his lead by 12 points over Lewis Hamilton at the French Grand Prix in a thrilling strategic battle between Mercedes and Red Bull.

Verstappen took pole position ahead of the race and initially had a great getaway off the line, before a lock-up into turn two saw Hamilton sweep past the Dutchman and into the lead of the race on the medium tyre.

Red Bull blinked first with the pit stops, pitting Verstappen for a set of hard tyres, with Mercedes then looking to perform the undercut on their main rivals with the Dutchman on his out-lap.

However, somehow Verstappen jumped Hamilton through first stops, with Red Bull then opting for a two-stop strategy, dropping the Dutchman back to fourth, carving his way through the pack before he overtook Hamilton on the penultimate lap on fresher tyres.

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Over the radio, Red Bull boss Christian Horner was heard saying “It’s a little bit of payback for earlier in the year,” in reference to the Spanish GP when Mercedes overhauled them on strategy.

The win, coupled with a third-place finish from Sergio Perez, means Red Bull now have a 37 point lead in the Constructors’ Championship too, heading into round eight in Austria.

And the Dutchman was elated with his team’s performance, but admitted his mistake at the start didn’t make for a smooth ride.

“Towards the end yes [I started to enjoy it],” explained Verstappen.

“In the beginning, it was super difficult out there with the wind.

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“We had an okay balance, then the next lap you were sliding everywhere.

“When we made the first pit stop then you could as they were pushing me on the hard tyres behind but then when we made the call to do the two stopper, luckily in the end it paid off.

“We had to work hard for it, but very rewarding. The whole race we were fighting each other so I think it will be like this for the rest of the season.”

Mercedes meanwhile, had been looking to bounce back from two tough weekends in Monaco and Baku, where the team scored just seven points.

Hamilton finished the race in second, with Bottas down in fourth, who was heard raging on the team’s radio that he had not been listened to coming into the weekend.

Bottas was heard shouting to his engineer: “Why the f*** does nobody listen to me when I say it’s going to be a two-stopper? F***ing hell.”

Formula One now heads to Austria for the second and third races of the triple header, before the British Grand Prix in July.

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