Red Bull Racing and Ferrari have alternated in the free practice sessions. Who will be fastest on Saturday afternoon and can claim pole position in qualifying for the French Grand Prix?

Q1

Normally top teams let the other drivers warm up first in qualifying, but this time Charles Leclerc was out immediately, as was Sergio Perez. The Ferrari driver immediately claimed the lead, while the Mexican was a good six tenths of a second slower. Verstappen too was unable to beat the Monegasque at his first attempt, but the difference was very small. A good prospect for an exciting battle for pole position.

There is also a lot of difference between the two title contenders and the rest of the field. For example, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton are 1.3 seconds behind after the first few attempts. The drivers in danger of dropping out of Q1 are Zhou Guanyu, Mick Schumacher, Nicholas Latifi, Sebastian Vettel and Kevin Magnussen - who will start the French GP from last anyway.

In his last attempt to get out of the danger zone, Zhou makes a big mistake, while immediately after, Alexander Albon runs off track, but manages to keep his car out of the barrier. It almost costs him the qualifying, but with Schumacher's last time removed, the Briton advances to Q2. This is not the case for Gasly, Stroll, Zhou, Schumacher and Latifi.

Q2

At the start of Q2, all drivers immediately drive out onto the red-hot asphalt of Circuit Paul Ricard. To avoid overheating the tyres, they drive slowly in the warm-up lap. Leclerc, Russell and Hamilton also started on used tyres, which was clearly noticeable. After the first attempt Verstappen is more than half a second faster than his competitor.

Although Carlos Sainz and Kevin Magnussen both have to start from the back, they show what they are made of in qualifying. The Dane has not only progressed in Q2, but also set the fifth fastest time, while Sainz takes the fastest time from Verstappen with a difference of nine tenths!

For the final lap the pressure is on for Vettel, Russel, Ocon, Albon and Tsunoda, but the differences are very small in the midfield. At the end of Q2, positions are being shuffled, with Daniel Ricciardo, Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas, Sebastian Vettel and Alexander Albon not progressing to Q3.

Q3

In the final session Carlos Sainz comes out again, to give Charles Leclerc a slipstream. This could be a clever tactic to make up the difference with Red Bull Racing on the straight. It seems to help just enough, as after the first attempt Leclerc is 0.008 seconds faster than Verstappen.

The title contenders and Perez seem in any case already certain of a top 3 position, as the other drivers are far behind.

In the final lap Ferrari tries to copy their tactics, which seems to work a lot better this time. Leclerc is able to extend his lead further, which ultimately leaves Verstappen unable to match it. Perez completes the top three, while the two Mercedes drivers start from P4 and P5.