Charles Leclerc benefitted from a tow from his Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz to snatch pole position from Max Verstappen ahead of Sunday's French Grand Prix.
The Ferrari pair worked together to nullify the Red Bull speed advantage on the straights, with Sergio Perez behind Verstappen in third. Lewis Hamilton was able to get on the second row, but still his Mercedes was some way off the pace of the Red Bulls and Ferraris ahead of him.
Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz will start Sunday's race from the back of the grid after picking up penalties for a series of additional parts on his Ferrari, including new Control Electronics and engine components. Kevin Magnussen is another driver starting from the back having incurred penalties of his own.
Magnussen and Sainz still completed a hot lap to get through from Q1, in the hope of being able to give their team-mates a tow later in the session. But it proved to be a waste of time and tyres for the Haas racer, as Mick Schumacher had his best time deleted for a track limits infraction and was knocked out.
Nicholas Latifi was slowest in the session while Zhou Guanyu had his hot lap attempt ruined by a shaky line through Turn 6. Lance Stroll continued his poor run of form in qualifying with another Q1 exit, while Pierre Gasly also suffered another disappointing qualifying result at his home race.
Alexander Albon scraped through to Q2 as a result of Schumacher's misfortune, but could not go any further. The British-Thai racer was knocked out with the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Valtteri Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon, the other Frenchman also failing to start in the top 10.
Both drivers starting from the back made it through to Q3, meaning everyone out at this point will start the race two places higher than their qualifying position. Magnussen did not bother to set a time in the final part of the session, while Sainz was used exclusively to give Leclerc a tow down the long straights.
Yuki Tsunoda impressed on the way to eighth place, with Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso and George Russell all ahead of him. Hamilton will start on the second row alongside Perez, while Verstappen will hope to take pole-sitter Leclerc at the first corner when the race gets under way on Sunday.
Full 2022 French Grand Prix qualifying results
- Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
- Max Verstappen – Red Bull
- Sergio Perez – Red Bull
- Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
- Lando Norris – McLaren
- George Russell – Mercedes
- Fernando Alonso – Alpine
- Yuki Tsunoda - AlphaTauri
- Carlos Sainz – Ferrari (Will start from the back of the grid due to a penalty)
- Kevin Magnussen – Haas (Will start from the back of the grid due to a penalty)
- Daniel Ricciardo – McLaren
- Esteban Ocon – Alpine
- Valtteri Bottas – Alfa Romeo
- Sebastian Vettel – Aston Martin
- Alexander Albon – Williams
- Pierre Gasly – AlphaTauri
- Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
- Zhou Guanyu – Alfa Romeo
- Mick Schumacher – Haas
- Nicholas Latifi – Williams
