Paul Ricard FR3.5: Lotus' Marlon Stockinger heads practice sessions

After leading team-mate Matthieu Vaxiviere to a one-two in the morning session, Stockinger then doubled up in the afternoon, taking the top spot as one of the last cars to pass the chequered flag.

That late effort demoted Matias Laine from a short-lived spell at the front of the field, after he had deposed previous pacesetters Jazeman Jaafar and Oliver Rowland.

Rowland was one of the first drivers to hit the ground running when teams switched their attention to qualifying work in the final 10 minutes of the afternoon, but that also meant that he had used up the best of his tyres by the time his rivals were building up to their hot laps.

Championship rivals Roberto Merhi and Carlos Sainz Jr finished the day eighth and 12th respectively, but it was the in-form Merhi who featured closer to the front of the order during the majority of afternoon running.

Merhi, who was a tenth of a second slower than Sainz in the morning, ran as high as second in the closing stages before being bumped down the order by the usual late improvements throughout the field.

Sainz had a low-key second session and rarely featured in the top 10, however his DAMS team-mate Norman Nato - a winner last time out in Hungary - ended the day fifth fastest.

Practice 1

Practice 2