Lewis Hamilton admitted victory at the French Grand Prix was never really in doubt as he spent much of the race looking after his new Mercedes engine.

His main competition was effectively taken out at the first corner when Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas collided with Max Verstappen inheriting second for Red Bull.

Though the Dutchman would remain within touching distance for most of the 53 laps, the world champion concedes that was mostly because his focus was elsewhere.

"I had it in the bag for a long time," he told Sky Sports F1. "Once I got in the lead, I got to about 10 laps before my stop, I think, I turned [the engine] down a little bit.

"I'm always really conscious of the engine, so whenever I can, if I can push a bit more and turn the engine down and make up for that time you lose from turning it down, I just do it in the driving. That's what I did today.

"I went back up because Max's pace was really good, but then after my stop, I was able to run in quite a comfortable position, I was never really challenged pace-wise," he added.

His victory now means the Mercedes driver has the full collection of at least one win at every race on the current F1 calendar, with Paul Ricard the 26th different Grand Prix he has won since debuting in 2007.

"I feel very grateful, just grateful for a solid weekend," he continued, having not won since his similarly dominant victory in Spain last month.

"I enjoyed the race. The weather was good and the fans have been crazy today - it's been really good to see so many people here. Best French Grand Prix I've ever had!" Hamilton declared.