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Charles Bradley

F1 Grand Prix qualifying results: Leclerc takes French GP pole

Leclerc will start ahead of the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

Leclerc benefited from his teammate Carlos Sainz giving him slipstreams in Q3, as Sainz will start from the back of the grid due to power unit change penalties.

French Grand Prix qualifying results: Leclerc on pole from Verstappen

Cla Driver Time Gap km/h
1 Monaco Charles Leclerc 1'30.872   231.437
2 Netherlands Max Verstappen 1'31.176 0.304 230.665
3 Mexico Sergio Perez 1'31.335 0.463 230.264
4 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 1'31.765 0.893 229.185
5 United Kingdom Lando Norris 1'32.032 1.160 228.520
6 United Kingdom George Russell 1'32.131 1.259 228.274
7 Spain Fernando Alonso 1'32.552 1.680 227.236
8 Japan Yuki Tsunoda 1'32.780 1.908 226.678
9 Australia Daniel Ricciardo 1'32.922 2.050 226.331
10 France Esteban Ocon 1'33.048 2.176 226.025
11 Finland Valtteri Bottas 1'33.052 2.180 226.015
12 Germany Sebastian Vettel 1'33.276 2.404 225.472
13 Thailand Alex Albon 1'33.307 2.435 225.397
14 France Pierre Gasly 1'33.439 2.567 225.079
15 Canada Lance Stroll 1'33.439 2.567 225.079
16 China Zhou Guanyu 1'33.674 2.802 224.514
17 Germany Mick Schumacher 1'33.701 2.829 224.450
18 Canada Nicholas Latifi 1'33.794 2.922 224.227
19 Spain Carlos Sainz      
20 Denmark Kevin Magnussen      

What happened in French Grand Prix Q1?

Leclerc set the early pace at 1m31.727s, to which Verstappen responded with 1m31.891s, 0.164s slower. Sainz was third, half a second off the pace, just ahead of Perez.

Falling at the first hurdle were Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Lance Stroll (who set the same time as Gasly in his Aston Martin), Zhou Guanyu (who suffered a wild moment in his Alfa Romeo), Mick Schumacher (who lost a top-10 laptime due to exceeding track limits on the apex of Turn 3) and Nicholas Latifi (Williams).

French Grand Prix Q1 results: Leclerc fastest from Verstappen

Cla Driver Chassis Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'31.727     229.280
2 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 1'31.891 0.164 0.164 228.871
3 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1'32.297 0.570 0.406 227.864
4 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 1'32.354 0.627 0.057 227.723
5 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 1'32.672 0.945 0.318 226.942
6 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas 1'32.756 1.029 0.084 226.736
7 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 1'32.819 1.092 0.063 226.582
8 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1'33.034 1.307 0.215 226.059
9 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'33.041 1.314 0.007 226.042
10 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 1'33.109 1.382 0.068 225.877
11 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 1'33.285 1.558 0.176 225.451
12 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 1'33.346 1.619 0.061 225.303
13 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1'33.394 1.667 0.048 225.187
14 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 1'33.404 1.677 0.010 225.163
15 Thailand Alex Albon Williams 1'33.423 1.696 0.019 225.118
16 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 1'33.439 1.712 0.016 225.079
17 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1'33.439 1.712 0.000 225.079
18 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1'33.674 1.947 0.235 224.514
19 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas 1'33.701 1.974 0.027 224.450
20 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams 1'33.794 2.067 0.093 224.227

What happened in French Grand Prix Q2?

Leclerc set the bar at 1m32.587s, which both Red Bulls ducked under, with Perez setting 1m32.120s and Verstappen managing 1m31.990s.

Sainz then knocked everyone out of the park by almost a second, with a stunning laptime of 1m31.081s. Leclerc ran again and got to within 0.135s of his teammate to make it a Ferrari 1-2.

Knocked out at this point were Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) and Alex Albon (Williams).

French Grand Prix Q2 results: Sainz fastest from Leclerc

Cla Driver Chassis Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1'31.081     230.906
2 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'31.216 0.135 0.135 230.564
3 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 1'31.990 0.909 0.774 228.624
4 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 1'32.120 1.039 0.130 228.302
5 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'32.274 1.193 0.154 227.921
6 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 1'32.631 1.550 0.357 227.042
7 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 1'32.633 1.552 0.002 227.037
8 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas 1'32.649 1.568 0.016 226.998
9 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 1'32.777 1.696 0.128 226.685
10 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1'32.836 1.755 0.059 226.541
11 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 1'32.922 1.841 0.086 226.331
12 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 1'33.048 1.967 0.126 226.025
13 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1'33.052 1.971 0.004 226.015
14 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 1'33.276 2.195 0.224 225.472
15 Thailand Alex Albon Williams 1'33.307 2.226 0.031 225.397

What happened in French Grand Prix Q3?

On the first runs, Sainz gave Leclerc a tow on the second part of the Mistral Straight and through Signes resulting in 1m31.209s. Verstappen lapped in 1m31.217s, 0.008s down, with Perez in third on 1m31.640s.

On the final runs, Leclerc got another tow from Sainz, this time producing 1m30.872s. Verstappen could only manage 1m31.176s, three tenths slower.

Perez will start third, ahead of the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris (McLaren) and George Russell (Mercedes).

Fernando Alonso starts seventh for Alpine from Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri). Neither Sainz nor Kevin Magnussen (Haas) set a laptime but will both go to the back of the grid due to power unit change penalties and will start 19th and 20th respectively.

French Grand Prix Q3 results: Leclerc takes pole

Cla Driver Chassis Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'30.872     231.437
2 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 1'31.176 0.304 0.304 230.665
3 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 1'31.335 0.463 0.159 230.264
4 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'31.765 0.893 0.430 229.185
5 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 1'32.032 1.160 0.267 228.520
6 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 1'32.131 1.259 0.099 228.274
7 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 1'32.552 1.680 0.421 227.236
8 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1'32.780 1.908 0.228 226.678
9 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari        
10 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas        
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