Mercedes’ Hamilton seizes pole at Paul Ricard to keep momentum going, fading Bottas P2; Leclerc third fastest for Ferrari but Vettel’s woes continue with subpar P7 time
Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton extended his hot streak by laying down a dominant lap for pole at the colorful and quite windy Circuit Paul Ricard during Saturday qualifying for tomorrow’s French Grand Prix. The English championship points leader came in having won three in a row and five out of the first seven rounds. That torrid run includes his controversial victory at Montreal two weeks ago that saw Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel demoted from a dominant win via a time penalty for unsafe reentry after cutting a chicane. Hamilton is not only looking to demoralize and psych out Vettel but also put his ambitious teammate Valterri Bottas back in his place. The Finn looked up for a Rosberg-like challenge to Hamilton’s supremacy after splitting two of the first four GPs to start the season. But since then Bottas has seen his Mercedes stablemate pull away in dominant fashion and he could do no better than a slightly shaky P2 time as the mistral seemed to play its tricks on his Silver Arrow here in the south of France.
For Ferrari, it was another mixed bag in a season in which they have struggled to get both their cars to perform at a high level simultaneously during qualifying. This time it was Charles Leclerc coming good with the third fastest time behind mighty Mercedes. But his senior teammate Vettel, perhaps still suffering from the extreme disappointment of being stripped of a win that he surely thought he deserved in Canada, struggled mightily in Q3 and could do no better than a P7 time. Vettel’s woes redounded to the benefit not only of Red Bull’s Max Vertsappen, who set the fourth fastest time, but also to an ecstatic team McLaren, who had their best qualifying in some years with rookie Lando Norris besting the senior Carlos Sainz, P5 to P6 respectively. The long suffering fans of the once-great F1 powerhouse will be hoping that McLaren’s excellent qualifying pace translates into a good points haul in the race, as well as an upward trajectory for the team’s future performance.
Daniel Ricciardo was the lone Renault in the Top 10 and the affable Aussie will start alongside Vettel in P8. Red Bull’s number two Pierre Gasly was once again far slower than his elite teammate, Max Verstappen, and could produce no better than the ninth fastest lap. Conversely Antonio Giovanazzi outperformed his senior stablemate at Alfa Romeo, Kimi Raikkonen, and with start from P10. The Iceman was bounced in Q2 after some ragged laps and will start way back in P12.
Top 10 qualifiers for the French GP:
| POS | DRIVER | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:30.609 | 1:29.520 | 1:28.319 | |
| 2 | 1:30.550 | 1:29.437 | 1:28.605 | |
| 3 | 1:30.647 | 1:29.699 | 1:28.965 | |
| 4 | 1:31.327 | 1:30.099 | 1:29.409 | |
| 5 | 1:30.989 | 1:30.019 | 1:29.418 | |
| 6 | 1:31.073 | 1:30.319 | 1:29.522 | |
| 7 | 1:31.075 | 1:29.506 | 1:29.799 | |
| 8 | 1:30.954 | 1:30.369 | 1:29.918 | |
| 9 | 1:31.152 | 1:30.421 | 1:30.184 | |
| 10 | 1:31.180 | 1:30.408 | 1:33.420 |
Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.
Tomorrow’s race airs live starting at 9AM on ESPN proper here in the States. Hamilton is showing every sign of once again blowing away the field as he stalks a remarkable sixth world title. Can Bottas regain the initiative and mental toughness to give him a real run for his money? And can Vettel shake off his post-Montreal malaise to fight to his way back up to the top step of the podium when all is said and done in France? Hope to see you then to find out!