French Grand Prix Preview: the continuing battle for the lead and the role of the team twos

After a crazy race in Azerbaijan, where Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton shared the championship lead, the 20 drivers will take to the Paul Ricard circuit in France. Who will be the strong link and who the weak link? And will Hamilton be able to return to the front of the championship?

The French race is the home race for the Alpine team, which is represented by Spaniard Fernando Alonso and Frenchman Esteban Ocon. The other home rider will be Pierre Gasly in the Alpha Tauri. But let’s look elsewhere for the favourites.

Of course, most of the media attention will be on the battle for the championship lead between Hamilton and Verstappen, who are still only four points apart. It’s a little different in the Constructors’ Cup, where Red Bull has leapfrogged Mercedes.

Traditionally, the battle for third place in the constructors’ championship will also be interesting, with McLaren and Ferrari battling each other without respect. McLaren’s problem so far has been the underperformance of teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who has been rather overshadowed by his younger teammate Lando Norris. The latter already has two podiums from the VC Emilia Romagna and the VC Monaco.

It’s Ferrari that has the better teammate in Carlos Sainz. In fact, the Spaniard has collected 16 more points so far and added a 2nd place in Monaco. Both he and Ricciardo must now help their teammates to the full as there are a trio of races in three weeks and the French VC will bring us closer to the third of the season.

Fifth place among the teams is also a contest, this time even between three constructors. This trio is led by Alpha Tauri, followed by Aston Martin and Alpine. The last three places are then occupied by Alfa Romeo with two points and Williams and Haas without a point.

The favourite for this race was again supposed to be Mercedes and namely Lewis Hamilton, who would be followed by the Red Bull pairing of Verstappen and Perez. We’ll see how Valterri Bottas, the Mercedes number two, does. Indeed, he is now the subject of speculation in connection with his retirement from the team. Moreover, the Finn’s results in recent races have been very poor.

The black horse could be Alpine, which finished 8th in the last race at the Paul Ricard circuit the year before last. This year, however, it is very difficult to predict who will attack the points from the middle of the field. And perhaps the balance of the teams could finally make the race in France a little more attractive, where we certainly can’t expect anything like Azerbaijan.

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