Formula 1

What went on in Ferrari-dominated second French GP practice

by Valentin Khorounzhiy
2 min read

Up Next

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, who is set to serve a grid penalty in the French Grand Prix, set the pace in the second Friday practice session.


Key moments:

> Ferrari half a second clear
> Verstappen third, Perez only 10th
> Big spin for Schumacher


As one of the very few drivers to run the soft compound rather than the medium on his opening run in FP2, Sainz established a lead of over eight tenths early on – with his former team-mate Max Verstappen and his current team-mate Charles Leclerc behind him, 0.010s apart on the yellow-walled tyres.

Leclerc jumped two tenths ahead of Sainz once switching to softs, but the Spaniard – who will serve a penalty of at least 10 places for Sunday’s race – replied with an eight-tenth improvement of his own to a 1m32.527s.

Ferrari’s 1-2 was then secured by Leclerc lapping 0.101s off Sainz, which crucially left him well clear of championship leader Verstappen.

The Dutchman couldn’t get within half a second of Sainz on his first soft-tyre attempt and appeared to overrule his team’s guidance in requesting another qualifying simulation attempt – which was another four tenths slower thanks to “a lot of understeer in the first sector” despite a session-best second sector.

Mercedes was three quarters of a second off the pace in fourth-placed George Russell’s hands, with Lewis Hamilton – who had ceded his W13 to Nyck de Vries in first practice – another two tenths down.

Lando Norris, who ran the old-spec McLaren in first practice but switched to the upgraded version for the afternoon session, was a tenth off Hamilton in sixth, followed by AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, Haas driver Kevin Magnussen and Norris’s team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

The second Red Bull of Sergio Perez was only 10th, a second off Verstappen.

The biggest incident in the session befell Magnussen’s team-mate Mick Schumacher, the German caught out in a high-speed spin through the ‘double right’ Le Beausset and appeared quite fortunate to not end up in the barriers.

Practice 2 Results

Pos Name Car Best Time Gap Leader
1 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1m32.527s
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1m32.628s +0.101s
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1m33.077s +0.55s
4 George Russell Mercedes 1m33.291s +0.764s
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m33.517s +0.99s
6 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1m33.607s +1.08s
7 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri-Red Bull 1m33.906s +1.379s
8 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1m33.928s +1.401s
9 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren-Mercedes 1m33.984s +1.457s
10 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 1m34.06s +1.533s
11 Fernando Alonso Alpine-Renault 1m34.259s +1.732s
12 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m34.264s +1.737s
13 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin-Mercedes 1m34.42s +1.893s
14 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri-Red Bull 1m34.54s +2.013s
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Mercedes 1m34.595s +2.068s
16 Alex Albon Williams-Mercedes 1m34.653s +2.126s
17 Guanyu Zhou Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m34.654s +2.127s
18 Esteban Ocon Alpine-Renault 1m34.66s +2.133s
19 Mick Schumacher Haas-Ferrari 1m35.195s +2.668s
20 Nicholas Latifi Williams-Mercedes 1m35.412s +2.885s
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • More Networks