LEWIS HAMILTON failed to land a top three spot in the final Practice session this afternoon.
Max Verstappen topped the charts, arch nemesis Charles Leclerc could only secure third place whilst seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton finished fifth.
But things are set to hot up further at the Paul Ricard Circuit during the qualifiers.
- Qualifying: 3pm BST, Saturday July 23
- Grand Prix start time: 2pm BST, Sunday July 24
- TV/Live stream: Sky Sports F1
PLAY DREAM TEAM NOW FOR FREE WITH £100k IN PRIZE MONEY TO BE WON!
Follow ALL the action with our live blog below…
- Ben Hunt
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.
- Ben Hunt
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.
- Ben Hunt
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.
- Ben Hunt
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.
- Ben Hunt
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.
- Ben Hunt
FP3 is go
Final chances to make improvements before qualifying.
- Justin Lawrence
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."
- Justin Lawrence
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.
- Justin Lawrence
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."
- Justin Lawrence
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.
- Justin Lawrence
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.”
- Justin Lawrence
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."
- Alex Cole
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.
- Alex Cole
2022 driver standings – as it stands
Here is a reminder of the TOP TEN from the 2022 driver standings heading into this weekend's French GP.
- Max Verstappen (208)
- Charles Leclerc (170)
- Sergio Perez (151)
- Carlos Sainz (133)
- George Russell (128)
- Lewis Hamilton (109)
- Lando Norris (64)
- Esteban Ocon (52)
- Valterri Bottas (46)
- Fernando Alonso (29)
- Alex Cole
Norris playing 'catch up' after testing McLaren upgrades
Lando Norris spoke about the McLaren car upgrades this weekend.
The team brought a new rear wing, engine cover and sidepods, giving the package to Ricciardo in FP1 before Norris took them in FP2.
Brit Norris told formula1.com “Daniel had it this morning for FP1, so he’s understood a little bit more. For me, I’ve still got to figure out how to drive the car because it’s a little bit different in that regard.
"I guess I’m playing a little bit of catch-up and trying to understand that compared to Daniel, but at the same time it’s been good, we’ve been able to compare data easily today because we chose that strategy of me not having it, him having it, and therefore we can look at the data tonight and extract more performance for tomorrow.
“It’s nothing good or bad, it’s just the limitation of the car is in different places throughout the corner and therefore you’ve got to adapt yourself to that.”
- Alex Cole
Along came Kev
Watch Kevin Magnussen hit the kurb hard during FP2 earlier today.
The Danish driver had a decent day, finishing in 8th.
- Alex Cole
FP2 standings
Here are your top six form today's session:
- Carlos Sainz
- Charles Leclerc
- Max Verstappen
- George Russell
- Lewis Hamilton
- Lando Norris
FP2 is Done
Sainz finishes top from Leclerc. Verstappen in third while Russell and Hamilton are fourth and fifth respectively.
Norris in P6
Ferrari continue to set the pace
The two red cars are definitely the quickest on track – by a long way too.
Verstappen is over 0.5 seconds behind, but the Dutchman is now out for a final few laps.
Russell is 0.764 seconds off Sainz's best time for the session.
Halfway in FP2 – Leclerc leads
It is a Ferrari double as Sainz is in P2. Verstappen in P3. Alonso P4, Vettel P5 and Stroll in P6.
That's hugely encouraging for Aston Martin, who have brought some upgrades to this race. Looks like they are working.
Shall we talk porpoising?
Yes, it is back. The bouncing up and down of the cars that was not so much of an issue in Canada, Silverstone and Austria, is a problem again in France.
Some have got it worse than others. Lando Norris was bouncing all about in FP1 and it looked mighty uncomfortable. Same too for Carlos Sainz.
Less so for Max Verstappen, but it is still occurring. Stiffer planks from Spa and new sensors in place next season to stop it.
- Ben Hunt
Spin for Schumacher
The Haas man has been earning some praise recently for his performances in the race, less so for that spin though.
He's managed to keep his car out of trouble and apart from ruining his tyres, remains all in good shape.
- Ben Hunt
Penalties for Sainz
If you missed it earlier, Sainz will face a 10-place grid drop on Sunday for new components on his Ferrari.
Remember his car caught fire last out in Austria and Ferrari have taken a new control electronics on his power unit, triggering the penalty.
- Ben Hunt
Early laps for Alpine
Alonso and Ocon currently sit at the top of the timesheets ahead of Gasly.
Two Frenchman in the top three.
- Ben Hunt
Leclerc topped FP1
The Ferrari man was the quickest in the morning session ahead of Max Verstappen while Carlos Sainz was third.
George Russell was in fourth in his Mercedes but there was no Lewis Hamilton, who was replaced by Nyck De Vries as part of a routine swap to give young drivers some experience – only he's 27.
Source: Read Full Article
