Max Verstappen wins intense French Grand Prix battle with Lewis Hamilton

Max Verstappen fought back to pass Lewis Hamilton and take a brilliant win in the French Grand Prix to extend his championship lead.

Verstappen's Red Bull team gambled on an extra pit stop, sacrificing the lead to come back at Hamilton on fresher tyres to pass the Mercedes with two laps to go.

And Mercedes were ruing a strategic blunder in which they left Hamilton out one lap too long and lost the lead.

That came after Verstappen had himself gifted Hamilton first place with a mistake at the first corner of the race.

After a thrilling see-saw battle between the two title contenders and their teams, Verstappen moves into a 12-point championship lead after seven races following Red Bull's third victory in a row.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez took the final podium position from Hamilton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas in the closing laps as the Finn's tyres faded.

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Formula 1

Formula One