Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc claimed pole position for 2022 French Grand Prix at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Max Verstappen topped FP3 but Ferrari fought back with Leclerc topping Q1 and Q3 en route to his 16th pole position in F1, ahead of Verstappen who joins him on the front row.
Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton will occupy the second row as Carlos Sainz and Kevin Magnussen will start at the back, following fresh power unit changes for the pair ahead of FP3.
Now here is a full roundup of FP3 and Qualifying at Circuit Paul Ricard, France.
FP3
Warm weather conditions once again greeted drivers as Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was first out on track and set the initial benchmark time of 1m 33.628, only for Verstappen to go 0.791 seconds quicker in the seventh minute as both Red Bull drivers ran their opening stints on the medium tyres.
Verstappen then further lowered his benchmark by 0.029s to 1m 32.808 as he comfortably dominated at the halfway mark, ahead of Sainz who set his best lap on the soft tyres alongside Perez who was third-fastest ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly.
Once the soft tyre Qualifying simulations began, Sainz initially fell 0.364s short but eventually posted 1m 32.626 to go top with ten minutes left, only for Verstappen to post 1m 32.272 just minutes later to top the session ahead of the Spaniard and Leclerc.
Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel was the only driver to not set their fastest lap on the soft tyre due to the team undertaking floor work on his car, with his quickest lap instead set on medium tyres.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 32.272 |
| 2 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.354 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.637 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.983 |
| 5 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 1.021 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 1.104 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | + 1.233 |
| 8 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 1.286 |
| 9 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.397 |
| 10 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 1.479 |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | + 1.516 |
| 12 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | + 1.569 |
| 13 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | + 1.597 |
| 14 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 1.600 |
| 15 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 1.639 |
| 16 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 1.759 |
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 1.850 |
| 18 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | + 1.950 |
| 19 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.963 |
| 20 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | + 2.264 |
Qualifying
Q1
Several drivers opted to venture early to get in a banker lap as everyone ran soft tyres in Qualifying, with Leclerc topping the opening stint and Q1 overall on 1m 31.727, whilst the elimination zone compromised of: Guanyu Zhou, Mick Schumacher, Nicholas Latifi, Sebastian Vettel and Magnussen.
At the checkered flag, Zhou, Schumacher and Latifi failed to escape as they qualified 18, 19 and 20th respectively, behind Lance Stroll and Pierre Gasly although Schumacher briefly escaped elimination in tenth but his final lap time was deleted for exceeding track limits.
Williams’ Alex Albon suffered a spin on his final flying lap but scraped through in 15th place.
Q2
Everyone slowly trickled out of the pits for their opening runs on a mixture of used and new tyres, with Lewis Hamilton setting the initial benchmark time of 1m 33.652, which was swiftly bettered by Lando Norris, Leclerc and Perez until Verstappen posted 1m 31.990 to go top.
Once everyone completed their opening laps as Sainz ran out of sync like in Q1 but this time went top with a Q2 topping 1m 31.081, the elimination zone compromised of; Vettel, George Russell, Esteban Ocon, Albon and Yuki Tsunoda.
Vettel led everyone out for their final Q2 runs with four minutes left on the clock but as the checkered flag fell, Russell and Tsunoda escaped at the expense of Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas who qualified 11th and 13th respectively sandwiched by Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in 12th.
Vettel qualified 14th fastest ahead of Albon who finished slowest in 15th place.
Q3
Sainz on used tyres led the pack – except for Magnussen – out for their opening Q3 runs but dropped back in order to provide Leclerc with a tow, which unleashed Perez and Fernando Alonso to the front of the pack.
Sainz’s decision to provide Leclerc with a tow out of the Montreal chicane on the run to Signes paid off, as the Monegasque went top with 1m 31.209 ahead of Verstappen by 0.008s with Perez sat third ahead of Russell, Hamilton, Norris, Alonso and Tsunoda.
Sainz and Magnussen didn’t set a time in the opening Q3 runs as the former backed off after providing Leclerc with his tow which he repeated for the final run, whilst Magnussen stayed in the pits because both drivers are set to start from the back of the grid.
Once the checkered flag waved, Leclerc lowered his pole time to 1m 30.872 and will be joined on the front row by title rival, Verstappen as Perez, Hamilton, Norris, Russell, Alonso and Tsunoda rounded out the top eight.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1m 30.872 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.304 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.463 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.893 |
| 5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.160 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 1.259 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | + 1.680 |
| 8 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 1.908 |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | No Time Set |
| 10 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | No Time Set |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 1m 32.922 |
| 12 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.126 |
| 13 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 0.130 |
| 14 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | + 0.354 |
| 15 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.385 |
| 16 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 1m 33.439 |
| 17 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.000 |
| 18 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 0.235 |
| 19 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | + 0.262 |
| 20 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | + 0.355 |
*Everyone who qualified 11-20th will start two places higher due to power unit penalties for Sainz and Magnussen, who will start 19th and 20th respectively.
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