Max Verstappen claims pole position in thrilling French GP qualifier

The French Grand Prix (GP) has usually been a happy hunting ground for Mercedes and heading into the qualifying race, title favorite Lewis Hamilton was the favorite to grab pole position ahead of the main race. Contradictorily, Red Bull has never really enjoyed visiting the Paul Ricard circuit. However, this particular qualifying race conjured up a result that perhaps most fans were not expecting. Max Verstappen of Red Bull took a sensational pole position as he kept Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton at bay. The French GP was added to the Formula 1 (F1) calendar for the first time since 2018. It was dominated at the time by Hamilton who took pole and victory in each edition.

Verstappen set the pace early in Q3 and he was slightly quicker than Hamilton. However, the race started to get interesting during the second runs as the Englishman went fastest in the first sector. Verstappen responded with a purple second and final sector to better his time and take his second pole of the season so far. Hamilton did not have a disappointing race by any stretch as he will be near the top of the grid in the main race. He came second, with teammate Valtteri Bottas securing third place.

The results of the French GP qualifying will help morale in the Mercedes camp as they have had an extremely difficult time in Monaco and Baku a few weeks ago. Of course, given that the French GP has always been their stomping ground, Toto Wolff might have expected a first-place finish. This result, still, is one that he can look to with positivity, especially after the last couple of races.

LECLERC DISAPPOINTS AS PEREZ COMES FOURTH

Azerbaijan GP winner Sergio Perez managed to grab fourth position, close to half a second behind his Red Bull teammate Verstappen. Carlos Sainz managed to beat his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc to fifth place. Leclerc could not finish in sixth place either. That spot was taken by fellow Frenchman Pierre Gasly, who received rousing applause from the fans. Leclerc could only manage to finish in seventh place, a highly disappointing result for someone who is in a good form.

McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris did not have a particularly good day at the office. The duo did manage to get into Q3 but Norris finished at eighth while Ricciardo could only manage the tenth place. They were separated by Alpine’s Fernando Alonso who finished in ninth place as the sole representative of the team.

The race saw two red flags in Q1. The first one came after Alpha Tauri driver Yuki Tsunoda lost control of his car at turn 2 and crashed into a barrier. The second one was when Mick Schumacher crashed into the barriers pretty hard. The red flag was produced with just 22 seconds remaining in Q1, which meant that the drivers who might have saved themselves from elimination, like Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi. Kimi Raikkonen and Nikita Mazepin were booted out early doors.