French Grand Prix qualifying preview, news and tips

Practice three
Sky Sports F1, 11am Saturday
Qualifying
Sky Sports F1, 2pm Saturday

Friday should go down as a pretty good day for Lewis Hamilton, even though his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas posted the fastest time of afternoon practice.

The world champion learned that his victory in the Canadian Grand Prix had been confirmed when the FIA ruled Ferrari had not produced enough new evidence to challenge the five-second penalty that cost Sebastian Vettel his race win.

And, while Bottas was the quicker of the two Mercedes in the afternoon, when Hamilton made a mistake on his fast lap attempt, the pair of Silver Arrows were well clear of their rivals, with the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc 0.649 seconds behind Bottas.

The gap had not been quite so big in the morning session, when Hamilton topped the times, a fraction ahead of Bottas and 0.373sec in front of Leclerc, although fourth-placed Max Verstappen was eight-tenths of a second behind.

Hamilton is 8-11 to go fastest in qualifying and although he can often put it all together when it matters most after a scruffy weekend, Bottas looks the better value as he has seemed happier with the balance of his car at Paul Ricard.

There was little between the pair in qualifying at this track last year when Hamilton took pole by 0.118 seconds.

Tyres look set to play a major role in the outcome of Sunday's race, with several drivers complaining that they had no grip after only short stints but that shouldn't be a major factor in qualifying.

Daniel Ricciardo has an upgraded engine in his Renault this weekend but it was the Renault-powered McLarens who looked to be best of the rest on Friday. Lando Norris was fifth fastest in the second practice, with his teammate Carlos Sainz splitting the Red Bulls in seventh.

Hamilton was investigated for the manner in which he rejoined the track after his mistake on his soft-tyred run but no further action was taken.

Recommendation
V Bottas fastest qualifier
1pt 2-1 BoyleSports

Follow us on Twitter

Like us on Facebook RacingPostSport