Hamilton was initially given the lead in the second corner as Verstappen overtook Turn 1 and had to cut into the top of Turn 2. But Verstappen regained the lead when he undercut Hamilton in the pit stop sequence.
Verstappen gave up the lead again when he opted for a second pit stop and Hamilton stayed away. He chased Hamilton relentlessly and passed him to take victory on the penultimate lap.
Results of the F1 Grand Prix of France 2021 2021
How the F1 Grand Prix of France developed
From pole position, Verstappen led Hamilton to corner one where he overtook the corner, which meant he severed the inside of turn 2 and Hamilton took the lead. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) took third place ahead of Sergio Perez (Red Bull), Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri).
Behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who placed seventh, the McLaren duo Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris overtook Fernando Alonsos Alpine on lap 11 to finish eighth and ninth. Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, who overtook Alonso’s teammate Esteban Ocon early on, also overtook Alonso two laps later.
Ricciardo drove past Leclerc on lap 14, the Ferrari then dived into the pits to switch from medium tires to hard tires. This undercut put him ahead of Ricciardo, who himself proved the power of the undercut by overtaking both Sainz and Gasly.
In the lead, Bottas pitted first on lap 18, which led Verstappen (who had fallen 3 seconds behind Hamilton) to react on the next lap. Hamilton pitted on the following tour and seemed surprised when Verstappen was able to overtake him at Turn 1. Red Bull’s team boss took full advantage of the undercut to regain the lead he lost in the first few seconds of the race.
Hamilton was within DRS range of Verstappen right after the pit stop cycle and also had Bottas right behind him when the top three ran from head to toe over the half-distance of the race. Perez ran a long time and led for a few laps before rejoining in a distant fourth place.
Verstappen pitted a second time on lap 32 and switched back to medium. He came back in fourth, Perez quickly let him in third place, with Verstappen initially overtaking the leader Hamilton with 2 seconds per lap.
Verstappen caught Bottas with 10 laps remaining, Hamilton had extended his lead to over 4 seconds. Verstappen overtook Bottas in Signes on lap 44, but was 5 seconds behind Hamilton.
When Verstappen caught up with Hamilton – three seconds behind and five laps left – Perez caught Bottas and overtook him four laps to go for last place on the podium.
The battle for victory was decided in the closing stages, with Verstappen overtaking Hamilton in the chicane with less than two laps remaining.
The McLarens won the battle for the best, Norris overtook Ricciardo in fifth. Gasly finished seventh ahead of Alonso and the two Aston Martins of Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll, who both started on hard tires.
