Leclerc edges Verstappen as Hamilton looks on from Mercedes garage
Leclerc edges Verstappen as Hamilton looks on from Mercedes garage
Charles Leclerc edged fellow F1 title protagonist Max Verstappen in first practice for the French Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton looked on from the Mercedes garage.
The Ferrari driver, winner of the last race in Austria to revitalise his championship ambitions, posted a lap of one minute 33.930secs around the Paul Ricard Circuit, finishing just 0.091s ahead of Red Bull's reigning champion.
As for Hamilton, under new regulations from this season designed to give younger drivers an FP1 opportunity, Hamilton opted to sit out this session at Le Castellet.
For the seven-time F1 champion, there was the unusual sight of him standing in his team's garage while another driver - on this occasion reserve Nyck de Vries - drove his car.
The reigning Formula E champion did not disgrace himself, finishing ninth quickest and half-a-second adrift of fourth-placed George Russell in the other W13.
Russell, though, finished a second behind Leclerc at a track where the expectation is Mercedes will perform well given the venue's smooth surface and with the team now appearing to be on top of the porpoising/bouncing woes that has afflicted its cars.
In temperatures hitting 30 degrees Celsius, sending the track temperature soaring to 60, it was Leclerc who ultimately had the final say in an hour-long session in which Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz and Verstappen had both topped the leaderboard.
Sainz, who will take a 10-place grid penalty for a change of the control electronics unit - and with potentially more penalties to come over the weekend - had to settle for the third-best time, 0.338s behind Leclerc.
Pierre Gasly was fifth in a heavily upgraded AlphaTauri, followed by Sergio Perez who took his Red Bull for a spin early on, with the Mexican just managing to keep his car out of the barriers.
Lando Norris, in a McLaren also sporting a comprehensively updated car, was 1.302s back in seventh place ahead of Williams' Alex Albon and then De Vries, with Daniel Ricciardo completing the top 10.
On home soil, Alpine duo Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso were only 13th and 15th, sandwiching Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel.
In stark contrast to Albon's fine performance and 1:35.414s lap time, team-mate Nicholas Latifi propped up the standings and just over 1.5s back.
French Grand Prix first practice results
1. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] 1:33.930s
2. Max Verstappen [Red Bull] +0.091s
3. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari] +0.338s
4. George Russell [Mercedes] +0.951s
5. Pierre Gasly [AlphaTauri] +1.049s
6. Sergio Perez [Red Bull] +1.244s
7. Lando Norris [McLaren] +1.302s
8. Alex Albon [Williams] +1.484s
9. Nyck de Vries [Mercedes] +1.496s
10. Daniel Ricciardo [McLaren] +1.730s
11. Zhou Guanyu [Alfa Romeo] +1.746s
12. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin] +1.880s
13. Esteban Ocon [Alpine] +1.898s
14. Sebastian Vettel [Aston Martin] +1.921s
15. Fernando Alonso [Alpine] +1.945s
16. Mick Schumacher [Haas] +2.092s
17. Kevin Magnussen [Haas] +2.174s
18. Yuki Tsunoda [AlphaTauri] +2.197s
19. Robert Kubica [Alfa Romeo] +2.402s
20. Nicholas Latifi [Williams] +3.113s
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
F1 set for talks over RADICAL change to points rules
- 26 minutes ago
F1 News Today: 'Game over' for Perez as Red Bull chief claims rivals 'pressuring' star into contract
- 2 hours ago
Cullen sends out new relationship love as F1 team punished for GP injury – GPFans F1 Recap
- Yesterday 23:57
Perez makes 'game over' admission after Chinese GP disappointment
- Yesterday 22:57
Red Bull chief claims team 'pressuring' star driver into contract
- Yesterday 21:57
Marko reveals Vettel requirements for stunning F1 comeback
- Yesterday 20:57
Related news
F1 driver hails 'INCREDIBLE' race return opportunity as track options assessed
French president gives HUGE update on historic F1 race
Rumours BUILD over French GP return to F1 calendar
F1 masterplan to secure ICONIC track's return takes tantalising new twist
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860