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Commentary

Live: F1 French GP commentary and updates - FP1 & FP2

Live commentary and updates for the 2022 edition of the Formula 1 French Grand Prix, taking place at Paul Ricard this weekend.

Ferrari heads into the race at the Le Castellet circuit on the back of two victories: Carlos Sainz took his maiden win at Silverstone, while Charles Leclerc claimed the spoils last time out in Austria.

Max Verstappen still leads the title battle, but now 38 points clear of Leclerc as the Monegasque displaced Sergio Perez from second in the standings. 

Sainz's power unit fire meant he left the Red Bull Ring without any points.

 

By: Jake Boxall-Legge, Stephen Lickorish, Lewis Duncan

Summary

  • F1 French Grand Prix FP2 due to get under way at 4pm UK time
  • Leclerc pips Verstappen to the top of the times in opening F1 French GP free practice

Leaderboard

  1. Sainz, Ferrari
  2. Leclerc, Ferrari
  3. Verstappen, Red Bull
  4. Russell, Mercedes
  5. Hamilton, Mercedes
  6. Norris, McLaren
  7. Magnussen, Haas
  8. Gasly, AlphaTauri
  9. Ricciardo, McLaren
  10. Perez, Red Bull
Status: Stopped
That's all for today's coverage. Make sure to stay tuned to Autosport.com for all of the latest from the French Grand Prix. 

We'll be back tomorrow at 12pm BST for FP3 from Paul Ricard.
Outside of the top 10, the field is completed by:
Alonso
Bottas
Vettel
Tsunoda
Stroll
Albon
Zhou
Ocon
Schumacher
Latifi
The top 10 at the end of FP2 looks like:
Sainz
Leclerc
Verstappen
Russell
Hamilton
Norris
Gasly
Magnussen
Ricciardo
Perez
FP2 comes to an end with Sainz leading a Ferrari 1-2 ahead of team-mate Leclerc.
Alpine mechanics watch home favourite Ocon start another lap sat on some wheels in the garage. Appears they have Renault chairs...
The AWS rankings on the leading cars through the slow corners puts Ferrari 1-2, which has been a common theme through the season with a number of the team's rivals noting the Ferrari's strong traction.
Clock has entered the final 10 minutes of running. Sainz continues to lead Leclerc at the top of the timesheets.
We've now gotten to the point of the session where some high fuel running is being carried out. Just under 15 minutes till the chequered flag.
Norris makes that last post a waste of time as he jumps up to second on his soft tyre time attack.
Just 20 minutes left in FP2 and Sainz continues to lead the way from Leclerc, Verstappen, Russell, Hamilton, Gasly, Magnussen, Ricciardo, Alonso, Bottas.
But Leclerc deposes the Red Bull driver - who is complaining of understeer in the first sector - to sit 0.101s behind Sainz.
Verstappen sits second, 0.550s, on his first flying lap on softs.
On his next proper soft tyre flier, Sainz finds a big improvement to go six tenths clear of Leclerc with a 1m32.527s.
Leclerc is now fastest of all with a 1m33.136s, 0.186s clear of team-mate Sainz.
Home hero Ocon puts together a soft tyre lap and goes sixth, as Leclerc begins to light up the timing screens on his soft tyre lap.
Latifi has jumped up to 13th on his soft tyre lap.
Stroll is the next driver to put in a soft tyre time attack and goes fourth in his Aston Martin, 1.2s off Sainz's pace.
Paul Ricard has gotten a bit more quiet as only Tsunoda, Norris, Latifi and the Aston Martins are out on track right now.
And Sainz converts that to top spot with a 1m33.322s to go 0.850s clear of the field with just under 40 minutes to go.
Sainz is out now finally and is flying on a set of soft tyres.
Someone needs to get Pierre Gasly a race programme to brush up on his drivers as he shouts over his radio: "Who the f*** was that guy, is it his first day driving?" in reference to some traffic he came across on a recent lap.
Verstappen goes top by 0.010s from Leclerc on his first flying lap on medium rubber.
Championship leader Max Verstappen is on his first outlap, while Ferrari's Carlos Sainz is yet to take to the track after having some engine components changed after FP1 - which will incur a 10-place grid penalty.
After 15 minutes of running, Leclerc leads Russell, Gasly, Perez, Magnussen, Alonso, Ocon, Norris, Schumacher, Zhou.
Leclerc is out on track after a slightly delayed start and is now top of the standings with a 1m34.182s.
Russell now ups the pace to a 1m34.810s in the Mercedes as Mick Schumacher has a fast spin through Turn 11, just about keeping his Haas out of the barriers.
Kevin Magnussen takes over top spot with a 1m35.386s on medium tyres.
Three drivers are out on a hard tyre run right now: Ricciardo, Stroll and Latifi. Current track temp is 54.9 degrees C.
Alonso, Ocon, Gasly, Russell and Magnussen are your top five in the opening moments of this session.
But just as we type that, team-mate Fernando Alonso is now fastest with a 1m35.531s.
Alpine's Esteban Ocon sets the early pace on medium tyres with a 1m35.600s.
12 drivers have already taken to the circuit, Bottas leads the field around to start his first flying lap.
There appears to be a lot of work going on around Leclerc's car as FP2 is given the green light.
FP2 at Paul Ricard is underway!
Just five minutes till pitlane goes green for FP2.
Couple of driver changes to be aware of for FP2. Lewis Hamilton is back in his Mercedes after Nyck de Vries had an outing in FP1, while Valtteri Bottas takes over from Robert Kubica at Alfa Romeo.
Over the lunch break, we've had some juicy news of a rebellion the FIA is facing from several F1 teams over floor changes to 2023.

Read up on all of that here: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/fia-facing-rebellion-over-2023-f1-floor-changes/10341551/
If you are just joining us and you're not interested in scrolling down, it was Ferrari's Charles Leclerc who topped FP1 earlier this afternoon from championship leader Max Verstappen.
Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of FP2 for the French Grand Prix. I have relieved pun master general JBL for the upcoming hour-long session. Promise I won't talk about bikes!

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