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The 2019 French Grand Prix ended with the familiar sight of a Mercedes 1-2 and with just about no action throughout the race. The dominant pace advantage of Mercedes and the current regulation produced one of the more processional races of the season which is slowing becoming more and more of a dead rubber after only 8 races.
Lewis Hamilton has a huge lead already and Valtteri Bottas does look out of his depth against him. Looking at the margin that Mercedes enjoys over the rest of the field it does seem inevitable that Title No.6 is coming Lewis' way sooner than later.
On the other side of the grid, McLaren was able to impress by qualifying P5 and P6 and putting together a great race.
There wasn't much to talk about during the race though as it was pretty dull from start to finish. It became painfully clear that Ferrari is just too far behind Mercedes to put together any sort of challenge and Bottas is just a level below at best. That being said, here are 5 talking points after the French GP:
#1 Should we pull the curtains on the season already?
We don't even have to look at the points tally now as it is very depressing reading. Mercedes have now won 8 out of 8 races and they have a bloody good car for every circuit. A weekend which started with stewards ruling against Ferrari's review pretty much set the tone for not only the weekend but the rest of the season.
It's almost indicative of the direction the current season is heading right now. All the cards are in the favor of Mercedes, and Ferrari just looks like a helpless bunch with nothing going their way. Mercedes on an average were able to pull out 4-5 tenths with ease over Ferrari in the last sector alone which just exposed how far back the Scuderia is compared to the Silver Arrows.
All the talks of Ferrari finding a silver bullet to their problems turned out to be a false alarm as the lead Ferrari finished 18 seconds behind the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. Was this the race where Ferrari gave up on the season and started hedging its bets on 2020?
Looking at the gap between the two teams this season it won't be a stretch to see Ferrari moving their focus to next season as the gap is just too big to be bridged in a single season.
#2 Is it the end of the road for Vettel at Ferrari?
Sebastian Vettel has not been a happy man for a while now. For a man who just got married this weekend, this certainly wouldn't be described as a honeymoon period for him. The events at Canada were still fresh when Vettel joined the paddock and with virtually every driver on the grid siding with Seb on the incident. Although the stewards still decided to overturn the request to review the penalty given in Canada.
As the weekend went on and Ferrari tested the parts brought to the car it became more and more clear that they just didn't have the desired result. What followed was an agitated Sebastian in Q2 coming on the radio and a subsequent below par Qualifying performance. The German claimed after the race that Ferrari failed to meet the objective they had set out to achieve in France which killed all the hopes of a fightback.
What's obvious right now is that nothing makes the 4-time World Champion happy. His car is nowhere. The rules and regulations in his view cost him a hard-earned win and at the same time, he has to keep a young charger who is snapping at his heels behind him. It's not the kind of environment in which Seb excels as Horner pointed out this weekend.
Throughout the weekend it just didn't seem like Seb wanted to be there. The fight just wasn't there, he's lost that edge which made him lethal and it's becoming painfully obvious that he's just not having fun at Ferrari anymore.
#3 Red Bull-Honda gets a reality check
After France, one can safely say that Renault has a better power unit than Honda. But one thing that would concern Red Bull, even more, is the fact that the Red Bull chassis is not the best on the grid right now. The car isn't stable. It's not the easiest to drive and it certainly is not the class of the field right now.
Max Verstappen was almost out-qualified by Lando Norris in France and although he was able to pull away in the race it's not the position Red Bull should find itself in. It is supposed to chase down Mercedes and Ferrari but it has spent most of its weekend fending off the midfield. Ever since Renault has resolved its reliability issues it has become clear that the engine is more powerful than Honda which is certainly not good news if you're a Red Bull fan.
France was a reality check for both Honda and Red Bull. Both have been raving about each other during the season but the race clearly showed the amount of work that both need to do to challenge for the championship next season.
#4 Pierre Gasly is getting exposed
Pierre Gasly's career might be on a very slippery slope right now. Finishing 10th in a race without any incidents in a Red Bull is a disaster for the Frenchman. The bosses at Red Bull were not that happy as Horner described the race as "frustrating". But the truth is, Gasly was beaten fair and square by drivers in inferior cars.
Looking at the way things are going, it won't be a surprise if Gasly does get the boot from the management in place of someone else. It's not like Red Bull is short of options either. They could promote Daniil Kvyat who was once upon a time deemed fit enough to drive that car. Or they could look elsewhere on the grid.
Nico Hulkenberg's name has been attached with the seat already and he will be out of contract at the end of the season. Then there's another teen sensation in Esteban Ocon who could be an option. There's also a certain Spanish double World Champion as well who just got released by McLaren in Fernando Alonso. Red Bull gave Gasly the opportunity that many thought he deserved but looking at the results and with 8 races done, the gap between the two drivers just seems too big for Gasly to bridge.
#5 Esteban Ocon might have a few options for 2020
Esteban Ocon was interviewed this week in which he talked about possible options on coming back to the grid. What's becoming more and more clear though is that the Frenchman might have a few options in hand for next season. The seat at Mercedes could be his if Mercedes keep one eye at the future but it could be risky for them as Bottas has been the perfect No.2 driver while Ocon might ruffle those feathers.
There could be a potential opening at Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen in what could be a blockbuster lineup for the team. He could even move to Renault if the French team opts not to extend Hulkenberg's contract or Red Bull poach Nico.
Or there could be a possible seat at Haas, a team that could potentially be looking at options beyond Magnussen and Grosjean after this season. All in all the Frenchman could be in for a shot to return to the grid next year.
