What happened in French Grand Prix FP2

Formula 1 championship leader Max Verstappen pipped the morning pacesetter Valtteri Bottas to the top spot in the second practice session ahead of Sunday’s French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard.

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Key moments

– Verstappen just 0.008s quicker on Bottas on softer tyres

– Hamilton in third, but off Bottas’s pace

– Alonso fourth quickest on Alpine’s home soil

– Red Bull’s Baku winner Perez down in 12th place

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Red Bull driver Verstappen’s benchmark of a 1m32.872s was just 0.008s quicker than the Mercedes of Bottas’s best effort.

However, Bottas, who is languishing down in sixth place in the championship after back-to-back pointless races at Monaco and Baku, set the second-fastest time in the session on medium tyres while Verstappen used the softs.

Verstappen repeated Bottas’s FP1 Turn 2 excursion and knocked a section of his front wing off. The debris caused a brief virtual safety car, but Verstappen later emerged to set his session-topping time.

With the third fastest time on the soft tyres, Lewis Hamilton backed up a far stronger Friday for Mercedes in France than its miserable pair of practice sessions on the Friday in Baku.

Two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso was a surprise fourth-quickest on home soil for Alpine, with a new engine aboard his A521.

His team-mate Esteban Ocon, who is fresh from signing a new three-year deal with the French manufacturer, was sixth fastest behind the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

Pierre Gasly – also enjoying the advantage of a fresh Honda power unit as is his AlphaTauri team-mate and the Red Bull drivers this weekend – was seventh fastest and eight tenths adrift of Verstappen’s benchmark.

Carlos Sainz in the second of the Mission Winnow logo-less Ferraris ended the session in eighth place ahead of the Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen.

Lando Norris was the leading McLaren driver in 10th place on the timesheet, while Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez found himself behind the Alfa of Antonio Giovinazzi in 12th place.

Aston Martin drivers Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll were down in 15th and 16th places respectively, only faster than the Williams and Haas duos

Nikita Mazepin spun his Haas on exit of final corner in opening minutes of the session before recovering to post the slowest time in the session, while George Russell returned to the cockpit of his Williams after Roy Nissany drove it in FP1.

Practice 2 Results