Pole position for Hamilton at Paul-Ricard, Leclerc 8th

Mercedes dominates at Paul-Ricard (Var). Lewis Hamilton was hardly disturbed by the brief drizzle on the Castellet track and signed an authoritative 75th pole position on Saturday afternoon.
The Briton signed the best performances in the different phases and immediately regained the upper hand in Q3 when his teammate Valtteri Bottas temporarily outstripped him.

Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), in the second curtain since Friday, found the necessary resources to move up to third place. Behind, the differences are significant: the Red Bull are relegated to half a second from the poleman and Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) to more than a second.

One of the performances of this session is the work of Charles Leclerc (Sauber), 8th. The Monegasque dominated his teammate Marcus Ericsson to gain a place in Q3, a first in his young career in F1. “Woohoo!” Oh yes ! It’s nice! ", he declaimed on his team radio after his Q2 lap.

For the return of F1 to France, Romain Grosjean (Haas, 10th) was the best French representative entering Q3. The 32-year-old driver unfortunately made a mistake in his first flying lap of Q3, losing control of his car. car at the Virage de l’Hôtel; wheels blocked, the Haas hit the protections at the front without causing significant damage. “I can’t engage reverse gear”, he announced on his radio.

In difficulty with the settings of his mount, Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) could not do better than the 14th time. The Force Indias are slightly behind, with Esteban Ocon 11th and Sergio Pérez 13th. “We have raised the bar a little compared to Friday. I’m happy with my lap, well ahead of my teammate,” explains the Mercedes protégé.

On the side of McLaren, progress is slow to come; Fernando Alonso (16th) and Stoffel Vandoorne (18th) did not even make it past Q1. Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso), who will start at the back of the line anyway due to various changes to the Honda engine, set the 17th fastest time.

Qualification ranking at Paul-Ricard (Var):