LEWIS HAMILTON will start on the second row of the French Grand Prix as he looks to secure a podium place.
Charles Leclerc is on pole as he looks to wrestle the world championship from Max Verstappen, who is second.
Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez is in third while Carlos Sainz starts at the back of the grid after taking an engine penalty.
- Grand Prix start time: 2pm BST, Sunday July 24
- TV/Live stream: Sky Sports F1
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LECLERC GETS POLE
The crowd go wild for the Ferrari man who takes pole ahead of Verstappen.
That was a fantastic lap, with a little bit of help from his teammate.
Perez is third, Hamilton will start fourth in his 300th race. Norris fifth and Russell is sixth.
Leclerc vrs Verstappen?
Who is going to snatch pole, there is barely anything to pick between the two.
I expect both teams to use their other drivers to give their teammates a tow.
Big cheers for Leclerc
He takes provisional pole after the first runs in Q3. But it is very close with Verstappen right behind him.
Perez in third, Russell fourth and Hamilton fifth after the first attempt.
Q3 is go
Top 10 battle has started with the two Red Bulls out on track first.
Ricciardo is OUT
Another miserable weekend confirmed for Ricciardo, who is out in Q2. He is knocked out along with Ocon, Bottas, Vettel and Albon.
However, all a due to move forward a few places on Sunday owing to penalties to Sainz and Magnussen.
Mercedes could be in trouble?
Both Hamilton and Russell are struggling here. Russell is in 11th and Hamilton in 8th.
Surely they won’t be out in Q2?
Meanwhile, Sainz is looking good and has gone quickest overall – nearly a second on Verstappen. Whoosh!
Q2 is go
The battle to reach the top 10 is underway. Can Albon make it into Q3? Will there be another big name missing out?
Gasly is OUT
Disaster for the Frenchman in his home race. He is out in Q1. Such a shame as he was hoping for such a good performance here.
He’d been looking good, but it out. Stroll, Zhou, Schumacher and Latifi are out.
Aston Martin in the drop zone
Both Vettel and Stroll are in the bottom five and risk being eliminated at the first hurdle. Another dreadful weekend lies ahead.
Latifi, Magnussen and Zhou also find themselves in the drop zone.
Qualifying is go
Battle to reach the top 15 on the grid has started in France. Who will take pole? Verstappen, Sainz or Leclerc?
Red Bull tipped for greatness
Red Bull can become unstoppable if they continue in the form they’ve been in so far.
That’s according to ex-F1 driver Anthony Davidson who made the claim after Verstappen clinched victory in FP3.
He said: “If Red Bull have been able to engineer and keep the speed that they had yesterday in the long runs, and still continue the short runs then they are kind of unstoppable.
“But you never know this year. It’s up and down, up and down, the way you want it.
“You win the trophies and you spray the champagne on Sunday afternoon. It’s not all about qualifying.
“Ferrari learnt that in Austria and I think they’re putting that into practice here as well. Sunday is where they want to make it good.”
Verstappen does some juggling
Max Verstappen decided to do some juggling after his win in FP3.
The Red Bull ace cruised to victory in the final practice session ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying showdown.
And he tweeted alongside a shot of him juggling: “Next up: Qualifying KeepPushing #FrenchGP.”
FP3 is done – Verstappen quickest
The world champion remains in P1. He is 0.354 seconds ahead of Sainz, who is second.
Leclerc is third and Hamilton in fourth.
At the other end, Vettel, Schumacher, Stroll and Ocon end up in the bottom four.
Five minutes to go
Aston Martin’s duo are in the bottom two places, despite some floor upgrades this weekend.
McLaren, who had by far the biggest set of new parts are in eighth and 10th with Norris and Ricciardo.
It is Verstappen, Sainz, Leclerc, Hamilton, Perez, Russell.
Ricciardo struggling
Just when he was defending his position in the McLaren team, he is having another terrible day behind the wheel.
He has just improved his time with a run on soft tyres but is still only in 10th almost a second off the pace of Verstappen, who remains in P1.
Hamilton shows his pace
The Mercedes man is on a flying run and sets the fastest time in sector 1.
His total lap time is good enough for P3 behind Verstappen and Sainz.
But Verstappen has yet to run on the faster soft tyres. His best time was on the mediums.
Verstappen sets the pace
The Red Bull man occupies P1 for the time being ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez.
The Ferrari duo are just coming out on track.
FP3 is go
Final chances to make improvements before qualifying.
Sainz questions Ferrari hierarcy
Carlos Sainz has disputed claims that Charles Leclerc is the No1 driver at Ferrari.
He told Marca: “None of that has come to me.
“I arrive every weekend knowing that I can fight freely with Charles, although you always respect your team-mate more.
“I come here with the same mentality.”
Russell receives warm welcome
George Russell was mobbed by fans as he arrived for today’s practice session ahead of the French GP.
The Brit finished fourth on the podium in FP2 on Friday.
But that was the last thing of the mind of racing fans as they swarmed him for pics before the action gets underway.
Leclerc on FP2 performance
Charles Leclerc is happy with Ferrari’s performance after FP2 although he’s keeping a close eye on Red Bull.
Leclerc said: “It was a good Friday, but we still have to work on the car a little bit for tomorrow.
“It’s very difficult to understand because it felt like Red Bull is doing something different to us on Friday, but we’re focusing on ourselves.
“The feeling is good, so we just need to put everything together and the pace is in the car.”
Hamilton hits another milestone
Lewis Hamilton will hit another personal landmark this weekend at the French GP.
The former World Champion’s had a glorious career despite a tumultuous season thus far.
But he’ll participate in his 30th GP this weekend when he steps on the track in France on Sunday.
Sainz scepticism over pole position
FP2 winner Carlos Sainz doubts he’ll start the French GP in pole position due to the amount of penalties he picked up in Friday’s session.
Sainz said: “It was definitely a positive Friday.
“I didn’t do many laps on the short run on low fuel, but every lap that I did was very competitive, which shows the steps that we’re taking and the direction we’re taking is going in the right direction.
“I’m focusing more in the long run because I’m not going to be in that fight for pole position given the amount of penalties [I have].”
And the Ferrari doubts he’ll be cut some slack by F1 bosses despite only one of his penalties getting recorded.
He added: “We will see. I mean I took 10, so you can expect what’s coming next.”
Non-vocal Verstappen speaks
Max Verstappen reckons it’s not his job to discuss fan trouble after the chaos amongst racegoers at the Austrian GP a few weeks ago.
He told the press when asked why he hasn’t spoken out on the issues like fellow racers such as Lewis Hamilton: “I don’t think it’s necessarily only me who has to speak out.
“That’s what I did in the press conference, because I think that has a lot more traction than anything else.
“If I really have to speak out about everything in the world, then I [would] be non-stop on social media, so there is a place and time.”
EXCLUSIVE – Hamilton’s diversity inclusion charter still not signed by Williams
Williams says they are waiting to hear back from the Royal Academy of Engineering before signing Lewis Hamilton’s diversity inclusion charter.
Ahead of the French GP Hamilton revealed that only one team had not signed the charter he devised with F1 to help commit to improving diversity within the sport.
He declined to name the team who had not signed up, which we can now reveal to be Williams.
When contacted by SunSport, the Grove-based team say they are still waiting for information before signing it.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
