At the start, Leclerc slipped away from pole easily ahead of Verstappen, who initially looked set to defend against Hamilton on Turn 1 as the Mercedes driver launched just ahead of Sergio Perez and started third.
But Verstappen braked the last of the front three and raced to the outside of Leclerc, but the Ferrari was under no real pressure on the racing line.
The top two immediately pulled away from Hamilton, trading the fastest laps.
As soon as the DRS was activated on lap three, Verstappen – who was already able to catch Leclerc on every straight with his lower drag and thinner rear wing – really started to pressure his rival, who seemed to be battling for the lead. rear tire grip.
Verstappen closed the gap to a minimum of 0.5 seconds early in lap eight of 53 as he twice got so close to Le Beausset that he looked to attack Leclerc’s outside.
But the Ferrari’s higher downforce and larger rear wing allowed Leclerc to slip away from the technical sections at the start and end of the laps and a tense stalemate developed with Verstappen falling back to around a second drift over the next few laps.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18, the rest of the field at the start
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
The Dutchman was now the one apparently struggling for grip as at one point he slid off the road at turn 6, picking up his first track limit violation, and by lap 14 he had fallen out of reach from the DRS as Leclerc began to increase his comeback to where he had turned in the early stages.
Leclerc’s lead was heading to 1.5 seconds when Red Bull called Verstappen late on lap 16 to switch to hard tyres.
Ferrari, who had told Leclerc he was considering a ‘plan B’ strategy and that his harder tire teammate Carlos Sainz was reducing the order after his engine change grid penalty still suffered thermal breakdown, n didn’t move to immediately cover Verstappen’s save.
But just after warning Leclerc to mind his psychics, the race was turned upside down when Leclerc crashed at Le Beausset – losing the rear of his F1-75 in a mistake as he ran near the edge of the track deep into the hairpin at high speed on its stressed rubber.
He quickly turned around and went straight into the barriers, where he fumed “I can’t speed up” before screaming realizing he was out of the race.
The incident was covered by a safety car, where Hamilton, who had seen early attention from Perez to pull away from second-placed Red Bull before Leclerc’s crash, led a mass visit to the pits.
He joined behind Verstappen and still ahead of Perez, with George Russell, Fernando Alonso and the two McLarens following in the queue ahead of Sainz.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
He had increased the order since starting in the back row in the early stages, but was handed a five-second penalty after his slow safety car stop ended when he was released on the way to Williams approaching Alex Albon.
On the restart on lap 21, Verstappen easily got rid of Hamilton and was quickly in charge, while the Mercedes pulled away from Perez again.
The main action in the field was Sainz’s continued recovery, as he jumped over Daniel Ricciardo at Turn 1 on the restart and brought Lando Norris into the Mistral right chicane further down the lap.
On the following tour he edged compatriot Alonso and then went after Russell, who then frustrated the remaining Ferrari’s progress for several laps before the Briton’s defense at the 8/9 chicane allowed Sainz better up the hill to Signes, where he got ahead with a pass around the outside.
Up front, Verstappen continued to slip away from Hamilton and his lead had grown to four seconds by lap 32, before quickly expanding to almost seven – mainly thanks to his pursuer who then had to catch an oversteer on the second turn and ran away. Track.
From there, Verstappen was unbothered to the finish and raced home with a 10.5 second margin of victory ahead of Hamilton, who was also unscathed in second – and that despite a brief moment of concern for the leaders when Zhou Guanyu stopped in turn 6. and triggered a brief virtual safety car.
Their advantage up front was due to the fact that after his Signes pass over Russell, Sainz had closed in on Perez and pressured the Mexican driver for several laps as Ferrari hesitated to bring him in for the second time. – knowing that if it was, he would do his penalty. applied tires could be changed.
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18, George Russell, Mercedes W13
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
The team and driver changed their minds on whether to enter or not, but Sainz was still out on lap 41 and he was racing just behind Perez – attacking at Signes then staying close enough to dive ahead at the final corner.
Ferrari had called him midway through their fight, but Sainz rejected the call and fired wide – having dragged Russell into his wake so the Mercedes were then in a position to attack the Perez with no grip.
On lap 42 Russell made a late move inside the turn 8 portion of the Mistral chicane and when Perez spun the pair nearly crashed before the Red Bull rushed into turn 9 and stays ahead – to Russell’s frustration but with the stewards quickly deciding the incident did not merit investigation.
But just after that Ferrari finally brought in Sainz for a second stop and he joined ninth and with a gap of almost 30 seconds to try to recover – as well as pass Norris and Alonso.
He did it quickly and showed blistering pace to set the fastest lap of the race, but came home with a frustrated fifth place.
It was behind Perez, who lost to Russell after the Mercedes driver edged out the Red Bull when the VSC ended on the approach to the final corner, then soaked up the pressure over the final three laps to seal the win. third place.
Sainz finished 11.5 seconds behind Perez, but clear of Alonso and Norris, with Esteban Ocon eighth after hitting Yuki Tsunoda at the right-hand Mistral chicane on lap one and picking up a five-second penalty which he served at his safety car stop for spinning the AlphaTauri. around.
Ricciardo took ninth place and Lance Stroll got the last point, although Sebastian Vettel was close to taking the lead on the final lap – with the chasing Aston Martin appearing to almost hit the other as he trailed to come out of the apex of the last corner.
The other non-finishers were Nicholas Latifi and Kevin Magnussen who retired in the pits shortly after clashing at Turn 2 in the closing stages, just after Williams attacked the Haas at the previous Turn 1 in an incident which will be investigated now the race is over.
Tsunoda stopped on the same lap as Leclerc’s crash due to the ground damage he suffered in the first clash with Ocon which dropped him to the back of the field.
