Yamaha SRT’s Fabio Quartararo kicked off his home GP in fine style as the Frenchman topped the times in FP1 at the French Grand Prix with the only 1:31 of the session, with the two Ducati Team riders of Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci inside the top three.
Free Practice Friday could be crucial in terms of automatic Q2 places as the weather in Le Mans remains a huge question mark, and boy did we get served a treat in FP1. Everyone inside the top ten, bar fourth fastest Maverick Viñales, fifth place Marc Marquez and sixth quickest Pol Espargaro, put in the fresh rubber to get those banker laps under the belt if the weather takes a turn for the worse.
Quartararo’s 1:31.986 was 0.127 faster than Dovi, with Petrucci 0.207 back as the top seven were split by less than three tenths. Viñales sits 0.030 ahead of Championship leader Marquez after FP1 with Espargaro impressing on the medium rear tyre to put his KTM 6th.
Jack Miller finished just 0.252 away from P1 in seventh as Joan Mir, home hero Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Valentino Rossi – ‘The Doctor’ encountering a chain issue midway through the session – complete the top ten.
Jorge Lorenz crashed early on at Turn 8, with teammate Marquez producing another miraculous save at the exact same point later in the session.
Full Result:
| Pos. | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
| 1 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Yamaha | 1’31.986 | |
| 2 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati | 1’32.113 | 0.127 / 0.127 |
| 3 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 1’32.193 | 0.207 / 0.080 |
| 4 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | 1’32.203 | 0.217 / 0.010 |
| 5 | Marc MARQUEZ | Honda | 1’32.233 | 0.247 / 0.030 |
| 6 | Pol ESPARGARO | KTM | 1’32.237 | 0.251 / 0.004 |
| 7 | Jack MILLER | Ducati | 1’32.238 | 0.252 / 0.001 |
| 8 | Joan MIR | Suzuki | 1’32.626 | 0.640 / 0.388 |
| 9 | Johann ZARCO | KTM | 1’32.724 | 0.738 / 0.098 |
| 10 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 1’32.760 | 0.774 / 0.036 |
| 11 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Honda | 1’32.831 | 0.845 / 0.071 |
| 12 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Yamaha | 1’32.887 | 0.901 / 0.056 |
| 13 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Ducati | 1’32.982 | 0.996 / 0.095 |
| 14 | Jorge LORENZO | Honda | 1’33.091 | 1.105 / 0.109 |
| 15 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | 1’33.123 | 1.137 / 0.032 |
| 16 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia | 1’33.259 | 1.273 / 0.136 |
| 17 | Alex RINS | Suzuki | 1’33.357 | 1.371 / 0.098 |
| 18 | Tito RABAT | Ducati | 1’34.113 | 2.127 / 0.756 |
| 19 | Andrea IANNONE | Aprilia | 1’34.135 | 2.149 / 0.022 |
| 20 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | 1’34.229 | 2.243 / 0.094 |
| 21 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | 1’34.481 | 2.495 / 0.252 |
| 22 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | KTM | 1’35.479 | 3.493 / 0.998 |