Red Bull’s Max Verstappen enjoyed a dominant Saturday to secure pole position for 2021 French Grand Prix ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
Having topped Friday Practice by narrow margins, Verstappen enjoyed a more comfortable Saturday as he dominated both FP3 and Qualifying with exception of Q2 as he took a comfortable pole position.
Now here is a roundup of all of Saturday’s F1 action at Circuit Paul Ricard.
FP3
A quiet start to session saw nobody head out in the opening ten minutes until Haas sent Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher out, with several drivers following suit as Alpine’s Fernando Alonso quickly set the pace on 1m 33.206.
Mazepin meanwhile suffered a lock-up of his front right tyre on his second flier, which sent him sliding wide at Turn Two to leave him recovering to the pits with just damage to his tyres.
Up front, Valtteri Bottas went quickest from Lewis Hamilton by 0.821 seconds in the 25th minute, although Verstappen went quicker by 0.009s just a minute later as Alonso and Charles Leclerc rounded out the top five at the halfway mark.
Bottas went quicker on his second flier by 0.037s but was usurped by Verstappen with a 1m 32.024 but the Dutchman’s lap time was deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn Six, leaving Bottas to go even quicker with a 1m 32.047.
Verstappen however responded on his Qualifying simulation with a stunning 1m 31.300 to finish 0.747s clear of Bottas as Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez finished third and fourth quickest ahead of Hamilton, who was the last driver to get within one second of Verstappen’s effort.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 31.300 |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | + 0.747 |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.895 |
| 4 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.938 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.966 |
| 6 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.036 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | + 1.324 |
| 8 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 1.381 |
| 9 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | + 1.407 |
| 10 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | + 1.459 |
| 11 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 1.520 |
| 12 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | + 1.717 |
| 13 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.751 |
| 14 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | + 1.900 |
| 15 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | + 2.028 |
| 16 | George Russell | Williams | + 2.064 |
| 17 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 2.124 |
| 18 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | + 2.284 |
| 19 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | + 2.843 |
| 20 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | + 3.342 |
Qualifying
Q1
Antonio Giovinazzi led the field out for their opening fliers but the session was soon halted in the fourth minute, as AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda lost his rear-end on entry and spun backwards into the barriers to bring out the red flag for just over ten minutes.
Once the session resumed, it was Verstappen who topped Q1 with 1m 31.001 just 0.236s ahead of Hamilton who needed a second flier to improve his lap time, whilst Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll saw his representative lap time deleted for exceeding track limits.
The Canadian consequently found himself in 19th behind Nikita Mazepin, Kimi Raikkonen and Nicholas Latifi, with all four drivers eliminated after Mick Schumacher crashed right at the end of the session, preventing them from posting an improved lap time and the German was consequently ruled out of Q2.
Q2
Several drivers opted to run the medium compound in order to enable an one-stop strategy in the race and start on the preferred race tyre, with Pierre Gasly setting the initial benchmark of 1m 31.353.
The Frenchman was however quickly usurped by the frontrunners as Sergio Perez went top with 1m 30.971, whilst the bottom four following the opening runs comprised of; Esteban Ocon, Sebastian Vettel, Giovinazzi and George Russell.
None of the quartet managed to escape the drop come the checkered flag despite all improving on their final laps, as Schumacher didn’t take part in the session due to his Q1 crash.
Mercedes meanwhile topped Q2 with a 1m 31.669 from Bottas ahead of Hamilton as Perez completed the top three in the session.
Q3
Gasly was first out for Q3 but his lap time of 1m 31.410 was deleted for exceeding track limits as Verstappen went top with 1m 30.325 ahead of Hamilton by 0.386s with Perez and Bottas provisionally sharing the second row after the opening runs as Sainz completed the top five.
Verstappen eventually went on to seal pole position with a 1m 29.990 ahead of Hamilton by 0.258s with Bottas outqualifying Perez for third as Sainz qualified fifth ahead of Gasly, Leclerc, Lando Norris, Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 29.990 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.258 |
| 3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | + 0.386 |
| 4 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.455 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.850 |
| 6 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | + 0.878 |
| 7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.997 |
| 8 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.262 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | + 1.350 |
| 10 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | + 1.392 |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1m 31.736 |
| 12 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | + 0.031 |
| 13 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | + 0.077 |
| 14 | George Russell | Williams | + 0.329 |
| 15 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | No Time Set |
| 16 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 1m 33.062 |
| 17 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | + 0.292 |
| 18 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | + 0.492 |
| 19 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 39.522 |
| DNQ | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | No Time Set |
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