Red Bull outsmart Mercedes in vital Max Verstappen-Lewis Hamilton battle

Five years ago today, Max Verstappen delivered one of the defining victories of his first championship-winning season, hunting down Lewis Hamilton in the closing laps of the 2021 French Grand Prix to secure a result that would prove emblematic of Red Bull's campaign.

It was a race that appeared to be slipping away from the Dutchman almost immediately. Starting from pole, Verstappen ran wide at Turn 1 in blustery conditions on the opening lap, handing the lead to Hamilton. 

Mercedes looked comfortable, Hamilton edging clear and keeping his rival out of DRS range in the early stages.

Red Bull's response was clinical. With tyre degradation running higher than expected at Paul Ricard, they pitted Verstappen first from second place and the undercut worked perfectly. 

Hamilton emerged behind the Red Bull after his own stop, prompting a frustrated "Come on guys" over the radio to his Mercedes pit wall.

The call that changed everything

But Red Bull were not finished. Rather than settling for a straightforward one-stop victory, they rolled the dice by bringing Verstappen in for a second set of mediums, mirroring the very strategy Mercedes had used to defeat them in Barcelona just weeks earlier. 

It was a bold move that temporarily dropped him behind both Silver Arrows.

What followed was relentless. Verstappen carved through Valtteri Bottas, then reeled in Hamilton lap after lap as the seven-time champion's hard tyres fell off a cliff. 

On the penultimate lap, Verstappen used the Mistral Straight and his considerable tyre advantage to sweep past Hamilton and into the lead. He crossed the line 2.9 seconds clear, with teammate Sergio Perez completing a Red Bull 1-3.

"We had to work hard for it, but of course very rewarding," Verstappen said afterwards. Had it not been for Red Bull's strategic genius on that day, a Hamilton victory would have seen the duo end the season level on points.