| 2022 French Grand Prix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 12 of 22 in the2022 Formula One World Championship
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 Layout of the Circuit Paul Ricard | |||||
| Race details | |||||
| Date | 24 July 2022 | ||||
| Official name | Formula 1 LenovoGrand Prix de France 2022 | ||||
| Location | Circuit Paul Ricard Le Castellet,Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing circuit | ||||
| Course length | 5.842 km (3.630 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 53 laps, 309.626 km (192.432 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Sunny | ||||
| Attendance | 200,000 | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||||
| Time | 1:30.872 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | |||
| Time | 1:35.781 on lap 51 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Red Bull Racing-RBPT | ||||
| Second | Mercedes | ||||
| Third | Mercedes | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The2022 French Grand Prix (officially known as theFormula 1 Lenovo Grand Prix de France 2022) was aFormula One motor race held on 24 July 2022 at theCircuit Paul Ricard inLe Castellet,France.
Going into the race with 2 consecutive wins for Ferrari and a solid qualifying performance that saw him in pole position, championship challengerCharles Leclerc and Ferrari were favoured for the win, which would have reduced their arrears to the championship leader and title holderMax Verstappen. However, Leclerc, who had been leading the race, spun out on lap 18, conceding the win to Verstappen.Mercedes driversLewis Hamilton andGeorge Russell finished second and third, respectively, giving the team their first double podium of the season.
The race was arguably a turning point in the season, as Verstappen and Red Bull powered on to a streak of victories that saw them become Champions, while Ferrari never recovered from the points and pace deficit that arose over the remainder of the season, a fact highlighted by the Monegasque driver's scream of despair and frustration after crashing out.[1] As of 2025[update], this was also the lastFrench Grand Prix to be held, as the race was not contracted for the2023 season and beyond.
The event was held across the weekend of the 22–24 July,[2] during the2022 European heat waves.[3][4] It was the twelfth round of the2022 Formula One World Championship.[2]
Max Verstappen led the Drivers' Championship by 38 points fromCharles Leclerc, withSergio Pérez third, a further 19 points behind.Red Bull Racing led the Constructors' Championship, leadingFerrari by 56 points andMercedes by 122 points.[5]
The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.[6]Nyck de Vries andRobert Kubica drove forMercedes in place ofLewis Hamilton and forAlfa Romeo in place ofValtteri Bottas, respectively, during the first practice session.[7]
The Grand Prix marked the 300th race entry and start forLewis Hamilton.[8]
Tyre supplierPirelli brought the C2, C3, and C4 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event.[9]
The end of the pit lane speed limit zone was moved from where the last team garage to the actual pit exit for safety reason, with the change expected to add 3.5–4 seconds to the time cars lose in the pit lane. In addition, following concerns from theGrand Prix Drivers' Association over consistency of penalties being handed out in races, a handful of incidents were informally reviewed in the drivers briefing to see where drivers felt the penalty system had worked and where it had not worked well.[10]
The first two practice sessions took place on 22 July, while the third practice session was held on 23 July 2022.[2]
Qualifying was held on 23 July 2022.[2]
Notes
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Prior to the race, some teams worried that the high temperatures may overheat the power unit or tyres.[14][15] The race started at 15:00 local time (CEST) on 24 July and was contested over 53 laps.[16]Charles Leclerc maintained his first position into turn one, fromMax Verstappen.Lewis Hamilton jumpedSergio Pérez and attempted to challenge Verstappen, but could not complete a move.[17]Esteban Ocon andYuki Tsunoda collided at turn eight.[18] Both were able to carry on initially, though Tsunoda later retired due to damage received in the crash.[19] Ocon was given a five-second time penalty by theFIA.[20]
Verstappen pitted on lap 16 to undercut Leclerc, but on lap 18, Leclerc lost the rear end, due to driver error, spun and hit the tyre barrier.[21][22] He could not reverse out and was forced to retire. Thesafety car was deployed, which allowed the majority of the field to pit.Carlos Sainz Jr. was released into the path ofAlexander Albon and the FIA determined it was an unsafe release and subsequently awarded Sainz a five-second time penalty.[23][24] As the race restarted, Verstappen kept first place, further backZhou Guanyu andMick Schumacher collided.[25] Both were able to carry on, and Zhou was given a five-second time penalty by the FIA.[26]
On lap 41, Sainz overtook Pérez.[27]George Russell, who was behind Pérez, attempted an overtake in the braking zone of turn eight, where they made contact.[28] Pérez was forced wide and kept the place from Russell. Sainz later pitted due to tyre concerns and was relegated to ninth (also serving his 5 second time penalty),[29] fighting back up to fifth.[30]
Kevin Magnussen andNicholas Latifi collided,[31] contributing to both of their retirements later in the race,[32][33] while Zhou, who had a power unit issue, pulled over on lap 49,[34] which brought out thevirtual safety car (VSC). Once his car was recovered, the VSC ended and Russell immediately got past Pérez; Pérez said that he was slow at the restart, as he expected the race to resume earlier, and could not react in time to the delayed restart.[35]
Verstappen won the race,[36] with Hamilton in second and hisMercedes teammate, Russell, in third.[37] Pérez finished fourth and Sainz was fifth.[38][30]Fernando Alonso finished sixth,[39] ahead ofLando Norris andEsteban Ocon, who finished seventh and eighth respectively.[40][41]Daniel Ricciardo finished ninth,[42] just ahead ofLance Stroll,[43] who was pressured to the line by hisAston Martin teammateSebastian Vettel.[44]
Notes
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| Previous race: 2022 Austrian Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 2022 season | Next race: 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 2021 French Grand Prix | French Grand Prix | Next race: N/A |
