F1 Grand Prix qualifying results: Leclerc takes French GP pole

Leclerc will start ahead of the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

Leclerc benefited from his team-mate Carlos Sainz giving him slipstreams in Q3, as Sainz will start from the back of the grid due to power unit change penalties.

French Grand Prix qualifying results: Leclerc on pole from Verstappen

Cla	Driver		Time	Gap	km/h
1	Charles Leclerc		1'30.872		231.437
2	Max Verstappen		1'31.176	0.304	230.665
3	Sergio Perez		1'31.335	0.463	230.264
4	Lewis Hamilton		1'31.765	0.893	229.185
5	Lando Norris		1'32.032	1.160	228.520
6	George Russell		1'32.131	1.259	228.274
7	Fernando Alonso		1'32.552	1.680	227.236
8	Yuki Tsunoda		1'32.780	1.908	226.678
9	Daniel Ricciardo		1'32.922	2.050	226.331
10	Esteban Ocon		1'33.048	2.176	226.025
11	Valtteri Bottas		1'33.052	2.180	226.015
12	Sebastian Vettel		1'33.276	2.404	225.472
13	Alex Albon		1'33.307	2.435	225.397
14	Pierre Gasly		1'33.439	2.567	225.079
15	Lance Stroll		1'33.439	2.567	225.079
16	Zhou Guanyu		1'33.674	2.802	224.514
17	Mick Schumacher		1'33.701	2.829	224.450
18	Nicholas Latifi		1'33.794	2.922	224.227
19	Carlos Sainz
20	Kevin Magnussen
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What happened in French Grand Prix Q1?

Leclerc set the early pace at 1m31.727s, to which Verstappen responded with 1m31.891s, 0.164 seconds slower. Sainz was third, half a second off the pace, just ahead of Perez.

Falling at the first hurdle were Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Lance Stroll (who set the same time as Gasly in his Aston Martin), Zhou Guanyu (who suffered a wild moment in his Alfa Romeo), Mick Schumacher (who lost a top-10 lap time due to exceeding track limits on the apex of Turn 3) and Nicholas Latifi (Williams).

French Grand Prix Q1 results: Leclerc fastest from Verstappen

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1'31.727			229.280
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1'31.891	0.164	0.164	228.871
3	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1'32.297	0.570	0.406	227.864
4	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	1'32.354	0.627	0.057	227.723
5	Lando Norris	McLaren	1'32.672	0.945	0.318	226.942
6	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1'32.756	1.029	0.084	226.736
7	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	1'32.819	1.092	0.063	226.582
8	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	1'33.034	1.307	0.215	226.059
9	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1'33.041	1.314	0.007	226.042
10	George Russell	Mercedes	1'33.109	1.382	0.068	225.877
11	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	1'33.285	1.558	0.176	225.451
12	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	1'33.346	1.619	0.061	225.303
13	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	1'33.394	1.667	0.048	225.187
14	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	1'33.404	1.677	0.010	225.163
15	Alex Albon	Williams	1'33.423	1.696	0.019	225.118
16	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	1'33.439	1.712	0.016	225.079
17	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1'33.439	1.712	0.000	225.079
18	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	1'33.674	1.947	0.235	224.514
19	Mick Schumacher	Haas	1'33.701	1.974	0.027	224.450
20	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	1'33.794	2.067	0.093	224.227
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What happened in French Grand Prix Q2?

Leclerc set the bar at 1m32.587s, which both Red Bulls ducked under, with Perez setting 1m32.120s and Verstappen managing 1m31.990s.

Sainz then knocked everyone out of the park by almost a second, with a stunning time of 1m31.081s. Leclerc ran again and got to within 0.135s of his team-mate to make it a Ferrari 1-2.

Knocked out at this point were Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) and Alex Albon (Williams).

French Grand Prix Q2 results: Sainz fastest from Leclerc

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1'31.081			230.906
2	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1'31.216	0.135	0.135	230.564
3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1'31.990	0.909	0.774	228.624
4	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	1'32.120	1.039	0.130	228.302
5	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1'32.274	1.193	0.154	227.921
6	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	1'32.631	1.550	0.357	227.042
7	George Russell	Mercedes	1'32.633	1.552	0.002	227.037
8	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1'32.649	1.568	0.016	226.998
9	Lando Norris	McLaren	1'32.777	1.696	0.128	226.685
10	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	1'32.836	1.755	0.059	226.541
11	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	1'32.922	1.841	0.086	226.331
12	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	1'33.048	1.967	0.126	226.025
13	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	1'33.052	1.971	0.004	226.015
14	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	1'33.276	2.195	0.224	225.472
15	Alex Albon	Williams	1'33.307	2.226	0.031	225.397
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What happened in French Grand Prix Q3?

On the first runs, Sainz gave Leclerc a tow on the second part of the Mistral Straight and through Signes resulting in a lap of 1m31.209s. Verstappen lapped in 1m31.217s, just 0.008s down, with Perez in third on 1m31.640s.

On the final runs, Leclerc got another tow from Sainz, this time producing a 1m30.872s. Verstappen could only manage 1m31.176s, three tenths slower.

Perez will start third, ahead of the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris (McLaren) and George Russell (Mercedes). Fernando Alonso starts seventh for Alpine from Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri). Neither Sainz nor Kevin Magnussen (Haas) set a time because will both go to the back of the grid due to power unit change penalties and will start 19^th and 20^th respectively.

French Grand Prix Q3 results: Leclerc takes pole position

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1'30.872			231.437
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1'31.176	0.304	0.304	230.665
3	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	1'31.335	0.463	0.159	230.264
4	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1'31.765	0.893	0.430	229.185
5	Lando Norris	McLaren	1'32.032	1.160	0.267	228.520
6	George Russell	Mercedes	1'32.131	1.259	0.099	228.274
7	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	1'32.552	1.680	0.421	227.236
8	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	1'32.780	1.908	0.228	226.678
9	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari
10	Kevin Magnussen	Haas
View full results