So far this season, the Grand Prix circuit has witnessed a battle between Mercedes and Red Bull, and the prevailing opinion is that Sunday’s race might be no different.
LE CASTELLET, France—Mercedes normally dominates this circuit in the south of France, but Saturday afternoon was a different story. Max Verstappen clocked a 1:29:990 fastest lap to take the pole for Sunday’s French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard. Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas took second and third, respectively.
Verstappen took the opening session, while Bottas took the second, but the Dutchman was first to take a flying lap with minutes to go, giving him plenty of room to clock a good time. Hamilton and Bottas followed, but their lap times were not good enough to overtake the Red Bull driver.
Max Verstappen: So far, it has been a positive weekend. This track has always been difficult for us, so to get pole position was really nice.
For Hamilton, who struggled a bit for most of the day, it was satisfying to place in the front row. “Generally, I am happy with the car, and everyone did massively a good job,” he said. But partner Bottas was hoping for a better race. “We have to find out where we can get some speed,” he concluded.
Saturday’s sessions were not without incident, and there were two red flag situations. First, Yuki Tsunoda spun his Alpha Tauri into the barriers in turn two. Then, seconds from the conclusion of the opening session, Mick Schumacher got loose in the rear end of his Haas and crashed into the barriers at turn six. Because of the damage, Schumacher could not participate any further.
For the rest of the top ten, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez completed the top four behind the two Mercedes and his Red Bull teammate. Carlos Sainz Jr., who was impressive in his Ferrari, was fifth.
Frenchman Pierre Gasly was sixth in the Alpha Tauri, while fellow countryman, Charles Leclerc, was seventh in the second Ferrari.
On the elimination front, Nicolas Latifi, Kimi Raikkonen, Nikita Mazepin, Lance Stroll, and Tsunoda were eliminated from the first session. At the same time, Esteban Ocon, Sebastian Vettel, Antonio Giovinazzi, George Russell, and Schumacher exited the second.
You can watch the French Grand Prix live on ESPN starting at 9a Eastern time.
