Max has the upper hand at Paul Ricard
Max Verstappen dominated qualifying yesterday for today’s French Grand Prix to put his Red Bull on pole position.
The championship leader finished 0.258 seconds clear of title rival Lewis Hamilton with his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas third at the Paul Ricard circuit.
Sergio Perez will start fourth in the other Red Bull ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and the Alphatauri of Pierre Gasly.
Hamilton has bossed the past two editions of the French race, winning both rounds from pole, but the seven-time world champion has not had an answer to the pace of Red Bull and Verstappen here this weekend.
Hamilton, using Bottas’ old chassis following a planned rotation of parts, has not been entirely at one with his machine, complaining in practice on Friday that there was something wrong with his car.
So he will take some comfort from joining his title rival on the front row.
Nevertheless, it is Verstappen, who should have won in Azerbaijan a fortnight ago before he suffered a tyre blowout with just five laps remaining, that heads into Sunday’s race as the favourite to extend his four-point advantage.
There were fist-pumps in the Mercedes garage with Bottas taking third to split the Red Bulls.
“So far it has been a positive weekend on a track that has been really difficult for us,” said Verstappen after claiming his fifth pole.
“No points were scored but for us today it is a great day. We need to finish it off tomorrow and get the 25 points that we lost in Baku.”
Hamilton said: “It has been a really hard weekend, mentally, trying to get the car into a happy place.
“You would not believe how many changes we have made.
“I have been unhappy in the car. Max has been incredibly quick. We have got a race on our hands and we are loving the battle.”