Verstappen cruises to French Grand Prix victory after Leclerc spins out

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LE CASTELLET, France -- Max Verstappen extended his championship lead to 63 points with victory at the French Grand Prix after his main title rival, Charles Leclerc, crashed out of the lead of the race.

Prior to the accident, Verstappen and Leclerc were in a tight battle for victory, with the Ferrari driver seemingly holding a slight advantage as he kept the Red Bull behind him for the opening 16 laps until Verstappen's first pit stop.

On lap 18, just before Leclerc was expected to make his own pit stop, he lost control of his car in Turn 11, spun wide and hit the barriers.

At the time he questioned whether the throttle was stuck open over team radio, but he later took the blame for mistake.

"A mistake, a mistake," he said when asked what went wrong. "I've been saying I think I'm performing at my highest level in my career, but if I keep doing those mistakes then it's pointless to perform at a very high level. I'm losing too many points.

"Seven [points lost] in Imola [with a spin], 25 here because we probably were the strongest car on track today, so if we lose the championship by 32 points at the end of the season I will know from where they are coming from.

"And, it's unacceptable, I just need to get on top of those things."

The accident meant he was out of the race on the spot, dealing a critical blow to his title chances, which were already looking slim prior to the race.

It also marked the third time this season Leclerc has retired from the lead of the race after a turbocharger issue at the Spanish Grand Prix and an engine problem at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Ten races remain this season, but given Verstappen's performances this year, which have led to seven victories from 12 races, 63 points looks almost unassailable for Leclerc, who is still on just three wins for the year.

Without Leclerc in the race, Verstappen had an easy path to victory, beating Lewis Hamilton to victory by over 10 seconds.

Although Hamilton was never really in contention for the race victory, he also had no real challenge from behind for second place, with teammate George Russell stealing third place from the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez after a late Virtual Safety Car.

Carlos Sainz finished in fifth place following a recovery drive from an engine penalty that meant he started from the back of the grid. The Ferrari driver ran as high as third at one stage but needed to make an extra pit stop amid concerns his tyres wouldn't make the end of the race that dropped him to ninth before he battled back to fifth.

Fernando Alonso took sixth at Alpine's home race ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris, his Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon and the second McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo. The results among Alpine and McLaren keep the two teams locked on equal points as they battle over fourth in the constructors' championship.

Lance Stroll took the final point on offer after a race-long battle with teammate Sebastian Vettel, which was decided on the final lap.