F1 Features

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes – 10

-    Lewis Hamilton swept to the 79th victory of his Formula 1 career in dominant fashion on Sunday, leading every single lap of the French Grand Prix.

Mercedes’ domination of qualifying at Paul Ricard on Saturday proved to be just a taste of things to come in the race as it crushed its Formula 1 rivals once again in the French Grand Prix.

A lot has changed for Eric Boullier in the last 12 months, with his return to Paul Ricard this weekend seeing him operate in a drastically different capacity over his home grand prix weekend.  

- Lewis Hamilton took the 86th pole of his Formula 1 career in dominant fashion on Saturday at Paul Ricard, heading up a front row lock-out for Mercedes.

Even amid all the post-race furore over the time penalty, Sebastian Vettel’s dominant display over the Canadian Grand Prix weekend stoked some hope that Ferrari could begin a fightback against Mercedes this year, stopping the silver streak of success to start the season in its tracks.

- The FIA-appointed stewards held a hearing for Ferrari’s request to review the penalty given to Sebastian Vettel at the Canadian Grand Prix that cost him the race win.

- One of the big talking points at Paul Ricard on Thursday was, predictably, Sebastian Vettel’s time penalty in Canada, with drivers agreeing that it was a harsh but – going by the rulebook – fair decision by the stewards.

Almost two weeks on from the chequered flag falling in Canada and Sebastian Vettel losing victory due to a controversial stewards’ ruling, the dust is showing few signs of settling in the debate.

Formula 1 returns to Europe for the first of two races in a row - and the start of a busy stretch before the summer break - at the French Grand Prix. 

A combination of factors saw Mercedes face its "biggest struggle" of the 2019 Formula 1 season at the Canadian Grand Prix, yet it was still able to prevail.

The seventh round of the 2019 Formula 1 season, the Canadian Grand Prix, will unfortunately be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes – 8

The fall-out from Sunday’s controversial Canadian Grand Prix and the penalty handed down to Sebastian Vettel has shown few signs of slowing down overnight, with the majority of the Formula 1 world decrying the stewards’ ruling in Montreal.

- It would have been a dream narrative for Lewis Hamilton to win in Canada after coming back from an unusual mistake in FP2 that meant he went to the race without a proper simulation under his belt, and later would suffer an hydraulic leak that forced Mercedes to do some extensive work to ge

Well that escalated quickly… After six fairly forgettable races to start the season that offered just two race winners, Formula 1 finally burst into life for 2019 on Sunday in Canada on a dramatic afternoon – chiefly because of what happened off-track as opposed to on it.

It’s the hope that kills you. That’s what Ferrari fans – and, frankly, neutrals eager to see an end to Mercedes’ recent domination of Formula 1 – would have been thinking heading into qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix on Saturday.

- The joy of Sebastian Vettel’s race engineer Riccardo Adami when he told the German he was on pole for the Canadian GP showed it all: Ferrari desperately needed to get it right and take the chance that Circuit Gilles Villeneuve gave them to be ahead of Mercedes.

- Friday in Canada saw a rare mistake by Lewis Hamilton in practice as he hit the wall exiting the Turn 8/9 chicane, minutes after the talk in the media centre was that “everything is so quiet that it’s almost as if something big is about to happen”.

- The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has been part of the F1 calendar since 1978, before Villeneuve himself was anywhere near the legend he later became. But the paddock didn’t change a huge amount in all these years - until now.

Talks surrounding Formula 1’s planned overhaul of its technical regulations for 2021 may be ongoing as officials look to meet the deadline at the end of the month , but the first steps towards

Formula 1 breaks away from the European leg of the calendar for a brief trip across the Atlantic and the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend.

Lewis Hamilton has seized the initiative in the 2019 Formula 1 title fight with an incredible victory at the Monaco Grand Prix. 

When the announcement was made that Lewis Hamilton had been excused from Wednesday's FIA press conference, a boo from one journalist in the media centre was so loud that it could be picked up on the audio for the broadcast.