Third Victory in a Row for Norris in Formula One’s Return to Paul Ricard

Qualifying:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Diff.
1	88	Robert Kubica		1:35.043	1:34.636
2	39	Sho Tsuboi		1:34.876	1:34.754	+0.118
3	47	Lando Norris		1:36.749	1:36.049	+1.413
4	20	Kevin Magnussen		1:36.505	1:36.745	+1.869
5	23	Jules Bianchi		1:36.834	1:36.517	+1.881
6	18	Sebastian Vettel		1:36.769	1:36.555	+1.919
7	57	Dean Stoneman		1:36.594	1:36.768	+1.958
8	7	Charles Leclerc		1:36.721	1:36.645	+2.009
9	94	Pascal Wehrlein		1:36.914	1:36.677	+2.041
10	63	George Russell		1:36.875	1:36.812	+2.176
11	56	Einar Ármannsson		1:37.013	1:37.006	+2.370
12	60	Ritomo Miyata		1:37.381	1:37.174	+2.538
13	1	Victoria Desai		1:37.974	1:37.603	+2.967
14	55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.		1:38.150	1:37.883	+3.247
15	4	Robin Frijns		1:38.011	1:38.351	+3.375
16	10	Alessio Lorandi		1:38.512	1:38.729	+3.876
17	70	Pastor Maldonado		1:38.811	1:38.605	+3.969
18	26	Robert Shwartzman		1:38.807	1:38.716	+4.080
19	29	Roger Ibe		1:39.724	1:39.381	+4.745
20	33	Max Verstappen		1:39.761	1:39.560	+4.924
21	81	Malik Zidan		1:39.811	1:39.882	+5.175
22	95	Beitske Visser		1:40.294	1:40.054	+5.418
23	80	Raven Roth		1:40.880	1:40.689	+6.053
24	98	Colton Herta		1:40.924	1:40.798	+6.162
25	11	Terry Hawkin		1:42.279	1:41.844	+7.208
26	21	Théo Pourchaire		1:43.018	1:42.408	+7.772

Report:

As is well known, FIA president Alekos Kalogeropoulos is an enjoyer of all things Formula One history. It was thereby pretty predictable that Formula One would return to such a classic venue as Circuit Paul Ricard.

By all accounts, this nostalgic event was a huge success. The last winner of a Formula One race at Paul Ricard, Ayrton Senna, made one of his extremely rare F1 appearances and got to see an exciting race.

In particular the first half featured a lot of passing moves, but the second half still had a lot of thrilling narratives: Jules Bianchi fighting off Sebastian Vettel and Pastor Maldonado charging towards the points.

In the end, Lando Norris controlled proceedings to take his fifth win of the season, ahead of hometown hero Bianchi and Vettel. Ferrari got both of their cars in the points for the third time in five races as well.

Race:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	47	Lando Norris		54:02.745	3	10
2	23	Jules Bianchi		+6.347	5	8
3	18	Sebastian Vettel		+8.752	6	6
4	39	Sho Tsuboi		+34.687	2	5
5	1	Victoria Desai		+41.627	13	4
6	10	Alessio Lorandi		+72.251	16	3
7	20	Kevin Magnussen		+90.028	4	2
8	70	Pastor Maldonado		+92.268	17	1
9	57	Dean Stoneman		+96.793	7
10	7	Charles Leclerc		+100.078	8
11	94	Pascal Wehrlein		1 Lap	9
12	63	George Russell		1 Lap	10
13	26	Robert Shwartzman		1 Lap	18
14	33	Max Verstappen		1 Lap	20
15	60	Ritomo Miyata		1 Lap	12
16	81	Malik Zidan		1 Lap	21
17	95	Beitske Visser		1 Lap	22
18	55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.		1 Lap	14
19	4	Robin Frijns		1 Lap	15
20	80	Raven Roth		1 Lap	23
Ret	29	Roger Ibe		Motor	19
Ret	88	Robert Kubica		Motor	1	1
Ret	56	Einar Ármannsson		Motor	11
Ret	21	Théo Pourchaire		Motor	26
Ret	98	Colton Herta		Suspension	24
Ret	11	Terry Hawkin		Loose Wheel	25

Fastest Lap:

Lando Norris – 1:38.989

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Dean Stoneman – he came within a few laps of points for McEwan and generally performed brilliantly.

Reject Of The Race:

FAST-BMW – even ignoring their usually bad pace, a poorly-fitted tyre and a motor explosion are not a good look.