Leclerc's eerie coincidence as Verstappen ties F1 great - French GP stats and facts

Max Verstappen was gifted the French Grand Prix victory by championship rival Charles Leclerc.

The Ferrari driver crashed out from the lead at Paul Ricard, allowing Verstappen to pull 63 points clear in the drivers' standings.

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell completed the podium, but after a dramatic turn in the F1 title picture, here are the best stats and facts from Le Castellet.

Verstappen joining the greats

Verstappen secured the 27th win of his career, tying with Sir Jackie Stewart for eighth in the all-time winners' list.

The Dutchman also surpassed 1500 laps led in F1.

Verstappen's victory was just the third time the driver starting second on the grid has won at Paul Ricard. Nigel Mansell was the last to do so in 1986.

Red Bull's hot streak

The team is currently on a run of 11 straight podium appearances since Verstappen's win in Saudi Arabia. That’s their best podium streak since 2013.

Verstappen has Leclerc in check

The gap between Verstappen and Leclerc now stands at 63 points.

No driver has overturned a deficit of more than 44 points before this year to claim the title.

It is worth noting that Verstappen was 46 points adrift of Leclerc after the Australian Grand Prix, though extinguished that gap over the three following races.

Mercedes finding form?

This was Mercedes’ first double podium of the year and the first time a Silver Arrow finished in the top two in the first 12 races.

Hamilton's result ensured he maintained his streak of finishing on the podium at each Paul Ricard event since the venue returned in 2018.

After standing on the podium at Magny-Cours in 2007, the only French GP Hamilton has failed to finish in the top three was in 2008.

The result was also Mercedes' fifth consecutive podium and Hamilton's fourth successive top-three finish.

Leclerc woes

The last Ferrari driver to have started from pole at Paul Ricard was Mansell, who retired from the 1990 edition with engine issues. A similar fate befell Leclerc, who crashed out from the lead.

All three of Leclerc's retirements this year have come when the Monégasque was leading from pole position - in Spain, Azerbaijan and France. On each occasion, Verstappen was the victor and Russell finished third.

The ups and downs for Sainz

Fifth place for Carlos Sainz was his best result in a French Grand Prix. But it was the first time this season he has finished a race outside the top four.

Alonso's record-breaking day

Fernando Alonso surpassed Kimi Raikkonen’s tally of 18,621 laps to claim the record for the most raced in F1.

The Spaniard has now scored points in each of his last seven races, whilst team-mate Esteban Ocon secured a top 10 at his home race for the first time.

Bottas' bleak spell

Valtteri Bottas has failed to score in each of the last three races, his worst run since his rookie season with Williams in 2013.

Sundaram Ramaswami -Twitter/Instagram - @f1statsguru

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