France – Qualifications: Hamilton Imperial, Leclerc Exceptional, and Grosjean in the Wall

Over the three free practice sessions of the weekend, two were dominated by Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton, and the last one, in the early afternoon, was disrupted by rain.

For the start of these qualifications, the sun reappeared, and the track dried up, allowing the drivers to immediately put on Ultra Soft tires from the beginning of Q1. In fact, all 20 participants took to the track in the first seconds of the green light to make up for precious time lost during FP3.

From the start, the Mercedes cars take the top two positions, with Lewis Hamilton setting the fastest time at 1:31.589 ahead of his teammate Valtteri Bottas. But Kimi Räikkönen, to everyone’s surprise, puts his Ferrari ahead of the Brit with a time of 1:31.567. Following them are Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, the other Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, Romain Grosjean in the Haas, Daniel Ricciardo in the other Red Bull, Kevin Magnussen driving the second Haas ahead of Carlos Sainz (Renault) and Charles Leclerc (Sauber), rounding out the Top 10.

Times evolve very quickly in the second rapid qualifying laps of the drivers. Verstappen, then Hamilton take the lead. The Briton sets a convincing 1:31.271. Ricciardo climbs to 5th place in the provisional standings.

The two Williams cars, Fernando Alonso in his McLaren, Marcus Ericsson who had adventures yesterday with the Sauber, and Sergio Pérez, also delayed due to an incident in FP2, are in the red zone with 5 minutes remaining in Q1.

Il reste 5 minutes dans cette Q1: voici les pilotes en danger !!#GPFranceF1 pic.twitter.com/OOImDwJyQI

— Automoto (@automoto_TF1) 23 juin 2018

The disillusionment continues for McLaren: Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne are eliminated in Q1 with Brandon Hartley’s Toro Rosso and the two Williams securing, as usual, the last row…

The clouds surrounding the circuit quickly came to cover the track, and the Q2 started under a light rain.

The Red Bulls make their first attempt on super softs, contrary to their competitors. The Austrian team is attempting a new strategic move since the tires used in Q2 to set the best time will be fitted at the start of the race tomorrow.

Everyone in a hurry to get a lap in at the start of Q2! Rain in the air once again at Ricard… #FrenchGP 🇫🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/kYqoCuwPwt

— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) 23 juin 2018

Mercedes is also trying this strategy with a lower track temperature compared to yesterday, where they were dominant. The strategy seems good as Hamilton and Bottas, despite their harder compounds, set the two fastest times ahead of Räikkönen and a surprising Grosjean who seems very comfortable in his Haas.

The two Force Indias, Nico Hülkenberg in the Renault, Marcus Ericsson, and Charles Leclerc in the Saubers are in the red zone.

Sebastian Vettel is in trouble and attempts a second fast lap. He moves up to 2nd place between the two Mercedes and reassures himself a bit. Räikkönen follows him on track and in the standings, in 3rd place.

The rain ultimately does not disrupt this second part of the session, but the clouds remain threatening. Sergio Pérez is the first driver to try his luck a second time on a second run. He barely manages to secure the 10th place.

Ricciardo, Hamilton, and Bottas set off for a second run but with Ultra-soft tires! Only Verstappen returns to the track on Super-soft tires. However, this attempt is actually just a warm-up in preparation for Q3 and their best times do not improve.

The two Force Indias of Ocon and Pérez are eliminated, as well as the Renault of Nico Hülkenberg, the Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly, and the Sauber of Ericsson. Big surprise from Leclerc, who makes it into the Top 10! The first time in his career. Romain Grosjean is the only Frenchman left in Q3.

All the drivers are going out on Ultra soft tires for this attempt. But once again, it’s the Mercedes that are the fastest, with Lewis Hamilton at 1:30.222 ahead of Valtteri Bottas at 1:30.317. Good news for Vettel, who clinches 3rd place ahead of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.

Kimi Räikkönen is slightly behind, only in 6th position ahead of Carlos Sainz’s Renault. But with 8 minutes left in the session, Romain Grosjean loses control of his Haas in the S turns of the Sainte Baume corner. The session is interrupted with red flags, and the Frenchman exits his car without physical issues but with his morale inevitably low in front of his home crowd. The unlucky streak continues for Grosjean.

Le Français @RGrosjean a perdu le contrôle de sa monoplace. La séance qualificative est interrompue. #GPFranceF1 pic.twitter.com/LVRzjyQLMT

— Automoto (@automoto_TF1) 23 juin 2018

The session quickly resumes after the evacuation of the Haas, and Magnussen, currently with no recorded time, heads out on track for a simple installation lap.

The remaining 9 single-seaters set off as a pack with less than 3 minutes remaining, except for Räikkönen who went ahead of his teammates to have the opportunity to make two attempts, but he did no better than a disappointing 6th time.

Valtteri Bottas takes the best time of the session right under Lewis Hamilton’s nose! Can the Finn compete with the Briton? No! Hamilton pulled out a lap in 1:30.029, more than a tenth ahead of his teammate. Sebastian Vettel secures 3rd place ahead of the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.

Charles Leclerc achieves the best performance of his career by securing an excellent 8th time ahead of the two Haas of Magnussen…and Grosjean. Carlos Sainz completes the Top 10 in 7th place.

The complete standings of the qualifiers:

QUALIFYING, Q3 CLASSIFICATION: Hamilton's 75th career pole, and his 3rd this season 👏 #FrenchGP 🇫🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/aVpHG4i6y1

— Formula 1 (@F1) 23 juin 2018

From our special correspondent in Le Castellet