BEIJING (Xinhua) -- Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has taken his third victory of the 2021 Formula One season at the French Grand Prix, catching and passing Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton with one lap to go in an enthralling race which ebbed and flowed as both teams employed different strategies.
Starting from pole position, Verstappen conceded the lead to Hamilton when he ran wide after the start, but the Dutchman retook the position after the first round of pitstops, when he stopped one lap earlier and used the resultant undercut to emerge ahead of Hamilton once the Briton had made his stop on lap 20.
Once back in the lead, Verstappen came under intense pressure from Hamilton and his teammate Valtteri Bottas, and radioed his team to say that he would not be able to maintain this pace for the rest of the Grand Prix.
Red Bull duly sacrificed Verstappen’s lead to call their man in for a second tyre change on lap 32, but Mercedes did not follow suit, setting the stage for an intriguing finale as the newly-shod Verstappen hunted down Hamilton and Bottas, who were now first and second but struggling on older rubber.