French GP: Carlos Sainz takes top spot in FP2 as Ferrari continue to look strong

Carlos Sainz topped FP2 at the French Grand Prix as Ferrari continue to show good pace at Circuit Paul Ricard on Friday afternoon.

The Scuderia are in very good form heading into round 12 of the world championship, with them winning the last two races at Silverstone and Austria respectively.

Indeed, they appear to be the team to beat at the moment – most concerningly for Red Bull who are currently leading the championship – as we head towards qualifying on Saturday.

In FP1, Charles Leclerc went fastest, albeit by under a tenth from Max Verstappen, whilst in FP2 it was Sainz who went quickest, ahead of team-mate Leclerc by just a single tenth and then Dutchman Verstappen.

As it’s been for much of the season, those three were once again the picks of the bunch in Friday practice, with Mercedes pair George Russell and Lewis Hamilton – back in the car after Nyck de Vries drove in FP1 – rounding out the top five.

Lando Norris took P6 as his McLaren car continues to look strong with some of the upgrades they have brought to Paul Ricard, whilst Pierre Gasly also looked to be getting the hang of the upgrades AlphaTauri have bought, as he posted the seventh quickest time.

Eighth fastest was Kevin Magnussen as Haas saw one of their cars make the top ten for the first time this weekend, whilst Daniel Ricciardo in the other McLaren was ninth and Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull rounded off the top 10.