French Grand Prix – Qualifying: Leclerc takes pole position ahead of the two Red Bulls

It was under sweltering heat that the qualifying session of the French Grand Prix took place. A session that kept the many spectators at Paul Ricard on the edge of their seats with the continuation of the battle between Red Bull and Ferrari.

Q1: No surprise at the top of the rankings, huge disappointment for Pierre Gasly.

Lance Stroll is the first driver to set a time in this session. However, this time doesn’t stay at the top for long as Charles Leclerc quickly sets a time under 1:32, ahead of the two Red Bulls. There’s a bit of trouble in this Q1 between the two drivers from the Austrian team. Verstappen feels he was hindered by Pérez. At Ferrari, Charles Leclerc questions his team’s strategy of having him do a second timed lap.

No surprise at the top of the timesheet, however, with the four drivers from the two leading teams in the top four positions. At the bottom of the standings, we find Pierre Gasly, who was hindered in his last lap by the yellow flag resulting from Alex Albon’s spin, Lance Stroll, Guanyu Zhou, Mick Schumacher, and Nicholas Latifi.

List of eliminated: Latifi (20th), Schumacher (19th), Zhou (18th), Stroll (17th), Gasly (16th).

Q2: The gap is widening between Ferrari and Red Bull, no French driver in Q3.

No observation round in this Q2. Most drivers quickly come out on the track, including Russell and Hamilton, who are struggling to find performance in their car this weekend.

Behind the wheel of a well-balanced car, Carlos Sainz sets a blistering lap time six minutes before the end of the session, creating a gap of nine tenths with the rest of the pack. His teammate joins him to achieve a Ferrari one-two in this Q2 session, ahead of the two Red Bulls.

Disappointment for Esteban Ocon who fails to secure twelfth position. No French driver managed to make it through to Q3 at the French Grand Prix. Only Fernando Alonso proudly represents the blue, white, and red colors in Q3.

List of eliminated drivers: Albon (15th), Vettel (14th), Bottas (13th), Ocon (12th), Ricciardo (11th).

Q3: Teamwork allows Leclerc to secure the pole position.

From the preparation lap, it was clear that Carlos Sainz, penalized on the grid, was going to assist his teammate by giving him a slipstream. This was done in the second part of the Mistral straight and at the Signes corner. This maneuver allowed Charles Leclerc to set the fastest time after the first run of Q3.

We take the same and start again for the second launched round. Leclerc positions himself to benefit from his teammate’s slipstream. And it works perfectly once again. The Monegasque driver doesn’t fail to thank his teammate for this perfectly executed strategy at the Reds.

The current second-place team in the championship will have a tough task starting tomorrow as they will be followed by the two Red Bulls, with Verstappen ahead of Pérez. The three British drivers, Hamilton, Norris, and Russell, follow in that order. After struggling yesterday, Yuki Tsunoda managed to place his AlphaTauri in eighth position. Due to penalties, Carlos Sainz and Kevin Magnussen will not be able to benefit from their positions in the Top 10. They will be replaced by Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon, respectively in ninth and tenth place.

Final grid after applying the penalties.