MAX VERSTAPPEN BEAT MERCEDES AMG DRIVERS FOR POLE

F1 Drivers’ Championship leader Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton by almost three tenths of a second to claim pole position for tomorrow’s 2021 FIA Formula 1 French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard. Valtteri Bottas took will line up in third place on the grid ahead of Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Pérez.

The opening Q1 segment got off to a stuttering start and the hour-long session was barely three minutes old when the action had to halted. AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda tried too too much kerb in Turn 1 and spun. He slide backwards off track in Turn 2 and hit the barriers. Apart from severe vibrations at the rear of his car as hew slid across the run-off the impact to the back of his car did not seem bad but after reporting that he had no gears race control red-flagged the session.

After a 10-minute delay the action resumed and Verstappen vaulted to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:31.001, eclipsing Bottas by more than six tenths of a second. Pérez then shuffled the Finn down to third place ahead of Hamilton. The Briton made a second attempt, however, and his improved lap time of 1:31.237 earned him P3 ahead of Pérez.

In the final moments of the session Haas’ Mick Schumacher crashed at Turn 6 and the red flags were shown for the second time and race control announced that with less than a minute on the clock the session would not be restarted. The stoppage meant that a number of drivers were not able to complete final flying laps and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen, Haas’ Nikita Mazepin and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll were eliminated without getting an opportunity to escape the drop zone.

In Q2 the majority of the remaining field headed out on medium tyres and in the first runs Pérez took an early lead with a lap of 1:30.971, a tenth ahead of Verstappen. Hamilton, who sat sixth after his first flying lap extended his run for a second attempt and he duly took top spot with a lap of 1:30.959.

Both Red Bulls and both Mercedes drivers went out for the final runs but while Bottas and Hamilton completed another medium-tyre flyer, with Bottas taking top spot on 1:30.735 and Hamilton improving, both Pérez, and Verstappen backed out of their laps leaving the top two placings to the Mercedes pair.

Eliminated at the end of Q2 were Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel exiting in P12 ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Williams’ George Russell.

In the first runs of Q3 Verstappen seized an early advantage, claiming provisional pole with a lap of 1:30.325, almost four tenths of a second ahead of Hamilton who slotted into P2. Pérez grabbed P3 a little under two tenths clear of Bottas.

But if there were any thoughts that the final runs would be a comfortable march to pole for the Dutchman they were dismissed as Verstappen and his chief title rival raised the level again in the final runs.

The pair traded purple sectors across through but when Verstappen crossed the line it was in a time of 1:29.990, 0.258 seconds ahead of Hamilton, and a fifth career pole position belonged to the Red Bull driver.

Bottas jumped ahead of Pérez in the final run and the Mexican will start fourth ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, AlphjaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. Lando Norris will start in P8 for McLaren ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and the second McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo.

2021 FRENCH GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING
P.	DRIVER	TEAM	TIME	GAP
1.	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:29.990
2.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG	1:30.248	+ 0.258
3.	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes AMG	1:30.376	+ 0.386
4.	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull	1:30.445	+ 0.455
5.	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	1:30.840	+ 0.850
6.	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	1:30.868	+ 0.878
7.	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:30.987	+ 0.997
8.	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:31.252	+ 1.262
9.	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	1:31.340	+ 1.350
10.	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	1:31.382	+ 1.392
Q2 Fastest Time: Valtteri Bottas - 1:30.735
11.	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	1:31.736	+ 1.001
12.	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	1:31.767	+ 1.032
13.	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	1:31.815	+ 1.078
14.	George Russell	Williams	1:32.065	+ 1.330
15.	Mick Schumacher	Haas	/	/
Q1 Fastest Time: Max Verstappen - 1:31.001
16.	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	1:33.062	+ 2.061
17.	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo	1:33.534	+ 2.353
18.	Nikita Mazepin	Haas	1:33.554	+ 2.553
19.	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	2:12.584	+ 41.583
20.	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	/	/
107% time: 1:37.371
2018 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1:30.029 2019 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1:28.319 2021 Max Verstappen - Red Bull - 1:29.990 @МкФормула1 - Република Македонија @MkFormula1 - Republic of Macedonia