F1: Leclerc nips Verstappen in opening French GP practice
Ferrari maintained their slight recent advantage over Red Bull in opening practice for the French GP F1 race at Paul Ricard, the 12th round of the 2022 championship.
Charles Leclerc turned a lap of 1m33.930s in his #16 Ferrari to nip the #1 Red Bull of Max Verstappen by just 0.091s, but Verstappen let off in the 3rd sector, so he is likely not showing if full hand.
Carlos Sainz Jr. was third in the #55 Ferrari, but 0.338s slower than his teammate and set for a grid penalty on Sunday.
George Russell was 4th quick for Mercedes, almost 1-second behind but still sandbagging.
Pierre Gasly rounded out the top-5 for AlphaTauri, ahead of the 2nd Red Bull of Sergio Perez.
Nyck De Vries did well to place 9th subbing for Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton will be back in the cockpit for FP2, and so will Valtteri Bottas, who sat out for Robert Kubica.
A clean session no huge issues and plenty of laps completed. Sergio Perez spun but hit nothing. Now the focus switches from initial set-ups and getting a feel for the tires on longer runs in FP2.
Practice 1 Times
POS | DRIVER | NAT. | TEAM | TIME | BEHIND |
1 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Scuderia Ferrari | 1m33.930s | +0.000s |
2 | Max Verstappen | NED | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1m34.021s | +0.091 |
3 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | ESP | Scuderia Ferrari | 1m34.268s | +0.338 |
4 | George Russell | GBR | Mercedes AMG Petronas | 1m34.881s | +0.951 |
5 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | Scuderia AlphaTauri | 1m34.979s | +1.049 |
6 | Sergio Perez | MEX | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1m35.174s | +1.244 |
7 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren F1 Team | 1m35.232s | +1.302 |
8 | Alexander Albon | THA | Williams Racing | 1m35.414s | +1.484 |
9 | Nyck de Vries | NED | Mercedes AMG Petronas | 1m35.426s | +1.496 |
10 | Daniel Ricciardo | AUS | McLaren F1 Team | 1m35.660s | +1.730 |
11 | Guanyu Zhou | CHN | Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen | 1m35.676s | +1.746 |
12 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant | 1m35.810s | +1.880 |
13 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1m35.828s | +1.898 |
14 | Sebastian Vettel | GER | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant | 1m35.851s | +1.921 |
15 | Fernando Alonso | ESP | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1m35.875s | +1.945 |
16 | Mick Schumacher | GER | Haas F1 Team | 1m36.022s | +2.092 |
17 | Kevin Magnussen | DEN | Haas F1 Team | 1m36.104s | +2.174 |
18 | Yuki Tsunoda | JPN | Scuderia AlphaTauri | 1m36.127s | +2.197 |
19 | Robert Kubica | POL | Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen | 1m36.332s | +2.402 |
20 | Nicholas Latifi | CAN | Williams Racing | 1m37.043s | +3.113 |