Charles Leclerc pipped Max Verstappen to set the early pace in Practice 1 at the French Grand Prix.
In sweltering conditions, the Monegasque would post a 1m33.930s on the soft tyre to lead the reigning world champion by less than a tenth of a second at Paul Ricard.
Verstappen’s best lap though was compromised by running wide onto the exit kerb at Le Beausset, costing the Red Bull driver a few tenths.
Carlos Sainz was third in the second Ferrari but already has a 10-place grid drop for new power unit components, with more set to be added resulting in a back of the grid start on Sunday.
The hotly-tipped Mercedes’ made a steady start with George Russell almost a second off the pace in fourth, while junior driver Nyck de Vries was ninth quickest as he stepped in for Lewis Hamilton.
After an engine issue in the opening minutes, Pierre Gasly took P5 to start his home race weekend as AlphaTauri’s big upgrade package showed some promise.
Sergio Perez was sixth after compromising his session early with a spin into the run-off area at Turn 4.
McLaren also has plenty of new parts at Paul Ricard, but it was Lando Norris in the old-spec car that was quicker than Daniel Ricciardo in the updated MCL36 in P7 and P10 respectively.
Williams’ Alex Albon was eighth, 1.5s faster than teammate Nicholas Latifi who was slowest, but finally had the upgrades his teammate first got at Silverstone.
Zhou Guanyu was 11th in the Alfa Romeo, with reserve driver Robert Kubica 19th as the Pole replaced Valtteri Bottas for the opening 60 minutes.
The two Aston Martins and two Alpines were covered by just 0.065s in P12 to P15, with the two Haas’ 16th and 17th ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, Kubica and Latifi.
Full results from Practice 1 can be seen below:
? CLASSIFICATION (END OF FP1) ?
Leclerc, Verstappen and Sainz lead the way#FrenchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/HorDHBNZvD
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 22, 2022
