Max Verstappen Puts It On Pole At Paul Ricard

Max Puts It On Pole At Paul Ricard

An all-action qualifying sees Max claim the Team's first ever pole position in France.

Championship

leader

Checo will line up on the grid at the rear of row two after being narrowly beaten to third place by Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas.

Getting Set For Qualifying

The opening segment of qualifying was red-flagged almost as soon as it started. AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda tried to take too much kerb on the left of turn one at the start of his first flying lap and as he got a snap of oversteer on exit he spun backwards, hitting the barriers in turn two. The impact was not severe but after reporting that he had no gears, race control elected to halt the session with three minutes gone.

After a 10-minute delay the action resumed and Max quickly jumped top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:31.001, eclipsing Bottas by 0.668s. Checo then crossed the line to shuffle the Finn down to third place ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly. Hamilton then went for a second attempt and with an improved time of 1:31.237 he bumped Checo back to P3.

At the other end of the order Williams’ Nichola Latifi, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen, Haas’ Nikita Mazepin and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll found themselves in the drop zone ahead of the final runs.

None of them would get the chance to escape elimination, however, as in the final minute of the session Haas’ Mick Schumacher went off in turn six. The red flags were once again displayed blocking any further attempts at improvement.

Max To Start On Mediums Tomorrow

In Q2 the majority of the remaining field headed out on medium tyres and in the first runs Checo initially took top spot with a lap of 1:30.971, a tenth ahead of Max. Hamilton, who sat P6 after his first flyer, extended his run for a second and he then took top spot with a lap of 1:30.959.

Both the Bulls and the Mercedes drivers went out for the final run but while Bottas and Hamilton completed another medium-tyre flyer, with Bottas taking top spot on 1:30.735, both Checo, on softs, and Max, on mediums, backed out of their laps in the final sector and the pair went through in P3 and P4 respectively thanks to their first run flyers.

Eliminated at the end of Q2 were Alpine’s Esteban Ocon who finished just over a tenth off the pace of P10 McLaren man Daniel Ricciardo, with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel exiting in P12 ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Williams’ George Russell.

In the first runs of Q3 Max seized an early advantage, claiming provisional pole with a lap of 1:30.325, almost four tenths of a second ahead of Hamilton who slotted into P2. Checo grabbed P3 a little under two tenths clear of Bottas.

Max Picks Up Pole In France

But if there were any thoughts that the final runs would be a comfortable march to pole for the Dutchman they were dismissed as Max and his chief title rival raised the level again in the final runs.

The pair traded purple sectors but when Max crossed the finish line it was with a scorching time of 1:29.990, 0.258s ahead of Hamilton, and a fifth career pole position belonged to the Red Bull driver.

Checo was just behind Max on track and a time of 1:30.445 might have given him hope of a front row berth. But Both Hamilton and Bottas were able to edge ahead of the Mexican and he’ll start P4, ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, AlphjaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. Lando Norris will start in P8 for McLaren ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and the second McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo.

French Grand Prix 2021: Qualifying

Thumbs Up For The Fans

Sergio Sends It To P4

Heading Out For A Flyer

First Pole In France

Time To Go Get Pole

All Eyes On The Data

Parking It Up On Pole

Feeling Good In The Garage

Entering Quali Mode

Sparks Fly On Saturday

Sergio Sends It On Softs

Max To Start On Mediums Tomorrow

What

Was

Said

Max

We really did not expect to be on pole here so I am of course very happy.

“To be able to put it on pole here, on a track that has not been our favourite in terms of performance, is very promising and a big boost for the Team. We really did not expect it so I am of course very happy. Everything has been working really well all weekend and from today even compared to yesterday we made a good improvement through hard work and maximising set-up.

There is a long run to turn one so we have to get a good start tomorrow and for sure they will be very close.

"I was confident after FP3 but you never really know where you are or what everyone else will bring in Qualifying, so we should be very happy with this performance so far. There is a long run to turn one so we have to get a good start tomorrow and for sure they will be very close but our long run pace in FP2 looked good so I expect another tight battle.”

Checo

“It wasn’t an ideal qualifying as I think locking out the front row was possible but unfortunately I made a mistake on my final Q3 run which cost me quite a bit of lap time. We were going in the right direction and I was feeling comfortable with the car but I just ran wide over the kerbs at Turn 12 and the lap was gone. But tomorrow is when it matters and we have better race pace than in qualifying so we should really be in the mix. It will be very close with Mercedes so I will be applying the pressure from the very first lap.

"My starts have been good so the plan is to get a couple of positions off the line and manage the race from there to try and bring home a 1-2 for the Team. I think the race will come down to tyre management so hopefully we can outperform them in that area but either way it’s going to be very entertaining for the fans and now I’m just looking forward to tomorrow!”

Christian

Horner

Starting from pole certainly gives us confidence but we’re expecting Mercedes to be very competitive tomorrow.

“It was another great performance from Max today and it’s fantastic to see him take our first pole position in France. Together we’ve been improving the car throughout the weekend and to have Checo up there as well, building on the momentum from his Baku victory, is a great Team performance. Starting from pole certainly gives us confidence but we’re expecting Mercedes to be very competitive tomorrow.

This circuit has been such a stronghold for Mercedes over recent years so it will be important to see if we can beat them here.

"This circuit has been such a stronghold for them over recent years so it will be important to see if we can beat them here. There’s a lot at stake and a long way to go in this championship but the whole Team is working incredibly well, putting in long hours, and coming together as a unit to put the pressure on Mercedes which is phenomenal to see. Having two cars starting at the front also gives us different strategic options in the race and so it will be important for us to do all the basics and get clean starts, execute quick pitstops and a good strategy.”

French

Grand

Prix

Qualifying

Top

Position	Driver	Team
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Max Verstappen	Lewis Hamilton	Valtteri Bottas	Sergio Pérez	Carlos Sainz	Pierre Gasly	Charles Leclerc	Lando Norris	Fernando Alonso	Daniel Ricciardo
Red Bull Racing Honda	Mercedes	Mercedes	Red Bull Racing Honda	Ferrari	AlphaTauri	Ferrari	McLaren	Alpine	McLaren