Verstappen to within 11 points of third place in championship Honda debuts new Spec 3 engine All four Honda engines finish at Paul Ricard

Verstappen's strong run with the new Honda Spec 3 engine furthered his streak of top-five finishes in each of the year's eight races, as the Dutchman split Ferrari teammates in relegating Sebastian Vettel to fifth place while chasing Charles Leclerc to the checkered flag in pursuit of the final podium spot.

The Red Bull driver's seventh top-four result of 2019 left him in fourth place in the Formula 1 championship standings, and allowed him to climb to within 11 points of third-placed Vettel. Verstappen's teammate Pierre Gasly qualified ninth in his home race, but that qualifying result forced him to start the race on the softer Pirelli tires, causing him to drop outside the top ten after his pit stop as he battled to come home in 11th place.

The Red Bull Toro Rosso Hondas had mixed results as rookie Alex Albon started a representative 11th, but lost five spots on the opening lap and spent the rest of the race fighting his way back through the field. The rookie made a pair of impressive passes before an inspired battle with teammate Daniil Kyvat dropped him to 15th in the final order.

Kvyat started at the rear of the field after a pre-race engine change and made up five positions on his way to a 14th-place result. The Russian ended up 14th after claiming a side-by-side battle with Albon with five laps to go.

The series will now compete in back-to-back weeks for the first time this season, heading this coming weekend to the 2.67-mile Red Bull Ring for the Austrian Grand Prix.

Toyoharu Tanabe

Technical Director, Honda F1

'This was a tough race for us, but as usual, Max drove a strong race to finish where he started, with the three cars ahead of him also finishing in grid order. Although all our cars took the checkered flag, our other three drivers had a more difficult afternoon. Our new Spec 3 PU performed as expected, but there is still room for improvement, and we will continue to work on that immediately to try for a better overall result next weekend in Austria.'

Max Verstappen

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing

Start 4th, Finish: 4th

'The race was a bit lonely at times but it wasn't boring as I had Charles (Leclerc) in sight which was good motivation to keep trying to match his lap times. You have to keep pushing yourself even if there aren't cars that you are directly fighting. I always want to see how fast we can go and push as much as possible. In the second stint, we were looking quite good but with six or seven laps to go I ran out of rear grip and I couldn't really rely on the rear tires anymore. I think it took a bit too much out of my tires trying to keep up with Charles early in the race but I'm pleased to be in front of one Ferrari and finish fourth on a track that doesn't really suit us. The target is always to win but it was not possible here today and I got the most out of the package. We have made a small step this weekend but we still need to work on all elements to fight for victories.'

Pierre Gasly

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing

Start: 9th, Finish: 11th

'It was a long, difficult day and I'm disappointed, especially being here in France. From qualifying, I have struggled for grip and it was the same in the race. At the moment I don't have the answer but I'm sure we will analyze everything to understand exactly why we lacked pace. I tried to do everything I could inside the cockpit but I could not push the car as I was sliding a lot. I have never really felt the car like this and with Austria next, we will have to quickly work hard with the guys to come back and put everything together for the next race. Honda are pushing hard and for sure they are developing so this is a positive.'

Daniil Kvyat

Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda

Start: 19th (Grid Penalty for engine change), Finish: 14th

'I think the race wasn't too bad today. In the end, we did the best job possible and we had some good battles on track, I made a nice move on the outside of (Romain) Grosjean and had an enjoyable battle with Alex towards the end of the race - it was quite fun! I'm not sure where we would have finished if we had of started further up the grid without the penalty, but I think it would have been a bit of a challenge to finish inside the points today. Now we need to analyze everything in order to come back stronger in Austria.'

Alex Albon

Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda

Start: 11th, Finish: 15th

'Unfortunately, our race was compromised from lap one as I went wide into Turn 2 and got boxed out. I didn't realize how much grip there was on the outside and I lost a few positions. We were quicker than the cars in front but struggled to get past them as everyone was in the DRS train, so I spent most of the race behind another car. We lacked a bit of pace today, so we need to understand why and where we can improve. It was good fun battling with Dany, however, fighting for positions outside of the points is not where either of us wants to be.'

Photo credit: Honda
posted on conceptcarz.com

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