Charles Leclerc takes French F1 GP pole for Ferrari with help from Sainz

Charles Leclerc claimed pole for the French Grand Prix at the Paul Ricard circuit. He put in a fine lap for Ferrari with some precision teamwork to beat the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez into second and third. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were in fourth and sixth, with McLaren’s Lando Norris was fifth.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished in ninth place. With the team knowing he would start from the back row of the grid having taken new power unit components this weekend beyond his allocation, they opted to use him tactically to Leclerc’s advantage in qualifying.

Leclerc set the pace on his first hot lap in Q3, immensely quick through the first and third sectors, enjoying a slipstream from his teammate Sainz on the Mistral straight. It was a vital advantage as Verstappen, following him on track, was breathing down his neck and crossed the line just eight thousandths of a second down, setting up a mighty head-to-head for the final runs.

Ferrari repeated their tactics on the second hot laps with Sainz leading Leclerc but Red Bull opted not to use Pérez similarly for Verstappen. Once more Leclerc, in Sainz’s wake, took advantage before the Spaniard peeled off from his path and the Monegasque smashed his previous lap in 1min 30.872sec, with Verstappen a full three-tenths down. Ferrari, the subject of criticism over tactics this season, had played this one to perfection.

This is Leclerc’s 16th career pole and his seventh this season, in which he has demonstrated remarkable pace over the single lap. It is his first in France, where his previous best was third in 2019, and with Red Bull having shown improved form over the single lap of late this will be a welcome statement of intent from Leclerc with his first