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Formula 1 French GP

F1 French GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2

Updates from the Friday F1 sessions at Paul Ricard

By: Jake Boxall-Legge, Stephen Lickorish, Lewis Duncan

Stopped
  • F1 French Grand Prix FP2 due to get under way at 4pm UK time
  • Leclerc pips Verstappen to the top of the times in opening F1 French GP free practice

Leaderboard

  1. Sainz, Ferrari
  2. Leclerc, Ferrari
  3. Verstappen, Red Bull
  4. Russell, Mercedes
  5. Hamilton, Mercedes
  6. Norris, McLaren
  7. Magnussen, Haas
  8. Gasly, AlphaTauri
  9. Ricciardo, McLaren
  10. Perez, Red Bull
That's all for today's coverage. Make sure to stay tuned to Autosport.com for all of the latest from the French Grand Prix. 

We'll be back tomorrow at 12pm BST for FP3 from Paul Ricard.
Here is the full practice report for FP2: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-french-gp-second-practice-sainz-heads-ferrari-1-2/10341668/
Outside of the top 10, the field is completed by:
Alonso
Bottas
Vettel
Tsunoda
Stroll
Albon
Zhou
Ocon
Schumacher
Latifi
The top 10 at the end of FP2 looks like:
Sainz
Leclerc
Verstappen
Russell
Hamilton
Norris
Gasly
Magnussen
Ricciardo
Perez
Checkered flag
FP2 comes to an end with Sainz leading a Ferrari 1-2 ahead of team-mate Leclerc.
Alpine mechanics watch home favourite Ocon start another lap sat on some wheels in the garage. Appears they have Renault chairs...
The AWS rankings on the leading cars through the slow corners puts Ferrari 1-2, which has been a common theme through the season with a number of the team's rivals noting the Ferrari's strong traction.
Clock has entered the final 10 minutes of running. Sainz continues to lead Leclerc at the top of the timesheets.
We've now gotten to the point of the session where some high fuel running is being carried out. Just under 15 minutes till the chequered flag.
Norris makes that last post a waste of time as he jumps up to second on his soft tyre time attack.
Just 20 minutes left in FP2 and Sainz continues to lead the way from Leclerc, Verstappen, Russell, Hamilton, Gasly, Magnussen, Ricciardo, Alonso, Bottas.
But Leclerc deposes the Red Bull driver - who is complaining of understeer in the first sector - to sit 0.101s behind Sainz.
Verstappen sits second, 0.550s, on his first flying lap on softs.
Stopwatch
On his next proper soft tyre flier, Sainz finds a big improvement to go six tenths clear of Leclerc with a 1m32.527s.
Stopwatch
Leclerc is now fastest of all with a 1m33.136s, 0.186s clear of team-mate Sainz.
Home hero Ocon puts together a soft tyre lap and goes sixth, as Leclerc begins to light up the timing screens on his soft tyre lap.
Latifi has jumped up to 13th on his soft tyre lap.
Stroll is the next driver to put in a soft tyre time attack and goes fourth in his Aston Martin, 1.2s off Sainz's pace.
Paul Ricard has gotten a bit more quiet as only Tsunoda, Norris, Latifi and the Aston Martins are out on track right now.
Stopwatch
And Sainz converts that to top spot with a 1m33.322s to go 0.850s clear of the field with just under 40 minutes to go.
Sainz is out now finally and is flying on a set of soft tyres.
Someone needs to get Pierre Gasly a race programme to brush up on his drivers as he shouts over his radio: "Who the f*** was that guy, is it his first day driving?" in reference to some traffic he came across on a recent lap.
Stopwatch
Verstappen goes top by 0.010s from Leclerc on his first flying lap on medium rubber.
Championship leader Max Verstappen is on his first outlap, while Ferrari's Carlos Sainz is yet to take to the track after having some engine components changed after FP1 - which will incur a 10-place grid penalty.
After 15 minutes of running, Leclerc leads Russell, Gasly, Perez, Magnussen, Alonso, Ocon, Norris, Schumacher, Zhou.
Stopwatch
Leclerc is out on track after a slightly delayed start and is now top of the standings with a 1m34.182s.
Stopwatch
Russell now ups the pace to a 1m34.810s in the Mercedes as Mick Schumacher has a fast spin through Turn 11, just about keeping his Haas out of the barriers.
Stopwatch
Kevin Magnussen takes over top spot with a 1m35.386s on medium tyres.
Three drivers are out on a hard tyre run right now: Ricciardo, Stroll and Latifi. Current track temp is 54.9 degrees C.
Alonso, Ocon, Gasly, Russell and Magnussen are your top five in the opening moments of this session.
Stopwatch
But just as we type that, team-mate Fernando Alonso is now fastest with a 1m35.531s.
Stopwatch
Alpine's Esteban Ocon sets the early pace on medium tyres with a 1m35.600s.
12 drivers have already taken to the circuit, Bottas leads the field around to start his first flying lap.