F1 Paddock Notebook - French GP Sunday

Recapping all of the additional news and notes following Sunday's French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard, Crash.net F1 Editor Luke Smith brings you his paddock notebook.

- Lewis Hamilton notched the 65th victory of his Formula 1 career in Sunday's race, leading all but one lap en route to a comfortable win for Mercedes. The result saw Hamilton win in a 23rd different country, surpassing Michael Schumacher's record, having only taken a best result of P3 at Magny Cours in his two apperances there before the French Grand Prix dropped off the calendar.

- After losing the lead of the drivers' championship at the last race in Canada, Hamilton moved back to the head of the standings ahead of Sebastian Vettel, who could only finish the race down in fifth place for Ferrari. His advantage now stands at 14 points. Mercedes was able to extend its lead in the constructors' championship to 23 points, outscoring Ferrari by six today.

- This marked the third straight race where Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull each had one driver up on the podium. Max Verstappen finished second for Red Bull ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

- Most of the drivers completed the race on a one-stop strategy, but those who came in at the end of the first lap were forced into a second stop. Only Sergey Sirotkin got to the end on one stop after coming in on Lap 1, going 51 laps on his Soft compound tyres.

- Valtteri Bottas' second pit stop was slowed by a rear jack failure, which dropped the car before the wheels had been fitted properly. Teh Finn would finish the race just 1.3 seconds behind Kevin Magnussen in P6.

- Magnussen's result marked Haas' return to the points after two races away, capitalising on the team's good pace through the Paul Ricard weekend. Teammate Romain Grosjean once again failed to score points, finishing 11th, having received a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Esteban Ocon on the first lap. Grosjean was also hit with two penalty points on his FIA Super Licence.

- Ocon himself received a reprimand for the opening lap clash with Pierre Gasly, who was also reprimanded as the stewards felt both drivers contributed to the collision that eliminated them both on the spot.

- Toro Rosso's Brendon Hartley changed strategy mid-race in case of rain, going for a long first stint to avoid a second stop should intermediate or wet tyres have been needed. Hartley said the decision may have cost him a position or two in his final result as he crossed the line 14th.

- McLaren went without points for the third race in a row, marking its longest points drought since Russia to Canada last year. Stoffel Vandoorne was its lead driver in P12, while an irate Fernando Alonso parked up with three laps to go due to a suspension failure on his car, having vented his anger over the radio.

- Williams also had another point-less race, with Lance Stroll retiring in the closing stages after a tyre failure at the end of the Mistral Straight. Teammate Sirotkin wound up 15th in the final classification.

- Paul Ricard reported a raceday attendance of 65,000, with the 'weekend' attendance being given as 150,000. The FIA reported a four-day attendance at the track of 160,000.

- The majority of F1 teams ran reduced media programmes on Sunday night due to the quick turnaround required to get to the next race in Austria, with pack-up well underway before the chequered flag as they contend with the sport's first triple-header.

- Finally, the podium finishers received one of the more unique trophies to add to their collection: a gorilla holding a Pirelli tyre aloft. Pirelli is the title sponsor for the race, with the trophies being designed by Richard Orlinski, an artist known for his gorilla artwork. A giant red gorilla also stood on the podium, with another being at pit entry.