After an eventful qualification, the F1 French Grand Prix is all set for a cracker of a race. Let us briefly look over the qualification and what awaits us this Sunday
French Grand Prix returned after a year break and what a qualification it was. Max Verstappen bagged the pole position followed by Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. Carlos Sainz outdid his teammate Charles Leclerc, who finished 5th and 7th respectively.
As for McLaren both the drivers struggled to put a good performance. Lando Norris qualifying at 8th and Daniel Ricciardo at 10th. Let us look into all the sessions as the qualification for French Grand Prix progressed.
F1 French Grand Prix
Q1 : Tsunoda and Schumacher Crash
It was and eventful start to the first session as just under 10 minutes, Yuki Tsunoda lost control of his car and slid into the barriers. The crash caused a red flag and all the cars were forced into the pits. As the race resumed, it was Verstappen who set the pace for the session. Hamilton was 2nd best with 0.2 seconds behind the Red Bull driver.
Lance Stroll got his lap time deleted for exceeding the track limits. Stroll had one lap to get into Q2 but it was not meant to be as Mick Schumacher crashed into the barriers causing another red flag. This meant the final lap of all the drivers had to be cancelled.
Schumacher made it into the Q2 but the likes of Lance Stroll, Kimi Raikkonen, Nikita Mazepin, Nicholas Latifi and Tsunoda were knocked out in Q1 .
Q2 : Mercedes Move To Pole, Disappointment For Ocon
Medium tires were the choice for Q2. Hamilton showed his class in the French Grand Prix as he went ahead of Sergio Perez. Valtteri Bottas joined the party and it was Mercedes one-two.
The Frenchman, Esteban Ocon just missed out on Q3 meaning he will start at 11th position ahead of Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin. The drivers knocked out were Ocon, Vettel, Giovinazzi, Russell and Schumacher.
Q3 : Max Verstappen On Pole
As the tires changed back to soft, Max Verstappen took the lead. The Red Bull driver was way quicker than the rest.
“If we can beat them here, really we can beat them anywhere,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner
With time, track started to improve meaning the drivers were able to go faster. Lewis Hamilton made the most of this as he goes fastest in the first sector but was not enough to dethrone Verstappen from the pole. Max Verstappen got his 5th career pole at French Grand Prix.
Hamilton will start 2nd followed by Valtteri Bottas who managed to get a better time than Sergio Perez. Pierre Gasly managed to separate the two Scuderia. Look at the final grid positions for the race.
- Max Verstappen
- Lewis Hamilton
- Valtteri Bottas
- Sergio Perez
- Carlos Sainz
- Pierre Gasly
- Charles Leclerc
- Lando Norris
- Fernando Alonso
- Daniel Ricciardo
With Max Verstappen taking the pole from Hamilton, will he be able to break Mercedes good record in French Grand Prix ? Who do you think will win, let us know.
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