There are few surprises after the qualifying session for the
French Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen and
Charles Leclerc are increasing their lead over their teammates, while
Lewis Hamilton is equalising.
Mercedes is still the only team where the drivers are very evenly matched. After his performance in France, Hamilton is on par again with
George Russell. Both drivers have now finished ahead of their teammate six times.
No surprises at Red Bull
At
Red Bull Racing,
Ferrari and
McLaren there are no surprises. Verstappen was again faster than
Sergio Perez on Saturday, and Leclerc also beat Sainz again. However, the Spaniard starts from the back on Sunday due to grid penalties, so he helped Leclerc by giving him a slipstream in Q3. Sainz has actually been faster than his teammate all weekend, so who knows if he could have challenged the Monegasque without his grid penalty.
Lando Norris is once again doing good business against
Daniel Ricciardo. With the new package of upgrades, the
McLaren looked fast. For
Pierre Gasly, it was a painful qualifying session at his home circuit, as the Frenchman flew out in Q1 already.
Yuki Tsunoda therefore gained a point on his teammate.
Qualifying duels after GP France
Red Bull Racing: Verstappen/Perez 9-3
Ferrari: Leclerc/Sainz 10-2
Mercedes: Hamilton/Russell 6-6
McLaren: Norris/Ricciardo 10-2
Alpine: Alonso/Ocon 8-4
AlphaTauri: Gasly/Tsunoda 8-4
Aston Martin: Vettel/Stroll 8-2
Alfa Romeo: Bottas/Zhou 9-3
Haas F1: Magnussen/Schumacher 10-2
Williams: Albon/Latifi 10-2