Max Verstappen’s late show sees him pip Lewis Hamilton in French Grand Prix

Max Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton with less than two laps remaining to claim victory in the French Grand Prix.

Red Bull and Mercedes took different paths as they each targeted the race win but it was the Austrians who came up trumps.

Verstappen, who started on pole but surrendered the lead on the first lap as he went wide into turn two, was put on a two-stop strategy.

Mercedes opted to keep Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas one one-stoppers and were ultimately thwarted by their championship rivals.

Verstappen's pace in his third stint was enough for him to catch and pass both Mercedes on track after he had got back ahead of Hamilton following the undercut during the first set of pitstops.

Bottas offered little resistance and was also caught by Sergio Perez.

Hamilton produced more of a fight and looked to have saved some pace in his tyres but it wasn't to be as Red Bull secured a hat-trick of wins for the first time in the turbo-hybrid era.

Verstappen bounced back from his Baku disappointment to further extend his championship lead as he looks to end the Mercedes-Hamilton monopoly.

He and his Red Bull team will now head to Spielberg in the Austrian hills flowing with confidence as Mercedes play catch up with Hamilton calling on his team to find some more pace after the race.

Bottas bemoaned the decision not to utilise a two-stop strategy as his race drifted away.

McLaren finished as best of the rest with Lando Norris beating his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo to the chequered flag.

The latter has struggled with his new team but produced arguably his best effort since moving to the Woking-based outfit.

Pierre Gasly finished seventh ahead of Fernando Alonso whilst the two Aston Martins rounded out the top ten.

Ferrari endured a horror Sunday despite both cars looking to have pace early on.

Charles Leclerc was the first man to pit at Circuit Paul Ricard but his strategy did not benefit him as he came home in 16th.

Carlos Sainz finished 11th but the Scuderia will not enjoy this debrief.

"When we made the call to do a two-stop strategy, it paid off," said Verstappen. "We had to work hard for it but it was very rewarding.

"The whole race we were fighting each other so it is going to be like this for the rest of the season."

Hamilton went on to say: "I am not sure how we lost the position today. We didn't know how strong that [undercut] was going to be.

"They had a good strategy and it worked well for them. The only option I had was to stay out as long as possible and hope the tyres hold together."

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