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Scuderia Ferrari Fans Rejoice After Seeing Their Two Favorites Qualifying in France

The 2022 Formula French Grand Prix is underway at Circuit Paul Ricard in Southeastern France. After the first two practice sessions on Friday, drivers had a third practice opportunity yesterday. Right after that, everyone went through qualifying. The results would settle the starting grid for the weekend's main event: the 12th race of the season, which starts today at 3 PM GMT+2.
Scuderia Ferrari Fans Rejoice After Seeing Their Two Favorites Qualifying in France 17 photos
Photo: Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari Fans Rejoice After Seeing Their Two Favorites Qualifying in FranceScuderia Ferrari Fans Rejoice After Seeing Their Two Favorites Qualifying in FranceScuderia Ferrari Fans Rejoice After Seeing Their Two Favorites Qualifying in FranceScuderia Ferrari Fans Rejoice After Seeing Their Two Favorites Qualifying in FranceScuderia Ferrari Fans Rejoice After Seeing Their Two Favorites Qualifying in FranceScuderia Ferrari Fans Rejoice After Seeing Their Two Favorites Qualifying in FranceScuderia Ferrari Fans Rejoice After Seeing Their Two Favorites Qualifying in FranceScuderia Ferrari Fans Rejoice After Seeing Their Two Favorites Qualifying in FranceScuderia Ferrari Fans Rejoice After Seeing Their Two Favorites Qualifying in FranceScuderia Ferrari Fans Rejoice After Seeing Their Two Favorites Qualifying in FranceScuderia Ferrari Fans Rejoice After Seeing Their Two Favorites Qualifying in FranceScuderia Ferrari Fans Rejoice After Seeing Their Two Favorites Qualifying in FranceScuderia Ferrari Fans Rejoice After Seeing Their Two Favorites Qualifying in FranceScuderia Ferrari Fans Rejoice After Seeing Their Two Favorites Qualifying in FranceScuderia Ferrari Fans Rejoice After Seeing Their Two Favorites Qualifying in FranceScuderia Ferrari Fans Rejoice After Seeing Their Two Favorites Qualifying in France
Before we look at the qualifying results, let's see how things unfolded during FP3. While Leclerc topped FP1 and Sainz was the fastest in FP2, it was now time for Max Verstappen to take charge. He drove for 23 laps, and his fastest one stopped the clock at 1:32.272 minutes.

Carlos Sainz only needed 14 laps to get into P2, as his lap was 0.354 slower. At this point, the Ferrari driver didn't manage to match his pace from FP2, but he wasn't far from it. Charles Leclerc was third fastest overall, and Lewis Hamilton claimed P4 for himself.

Looking at the other Red Bull Racing driver on the grid, Sergio Perez, he was moreover a second slower than Verstappen, which some would say is quite unusual. The gap between P1 and P19 was smaller than two seconds, and it was Sebastian Vettel that would take P20 for this session.

But let's move on to the most important part of Saturday's French GP: the qualifying session. As always, this was split into Q1, Q2, and Q3, and the outcome would establish the starting grid for today's race.

Scuderia Ferrari Fans Rejoice After Seeing Their Two Favorites Qualifying in France
Photo: Ferrari
The first part of the session was quite breathtaking, as no one wants to be knocked out this early on. Still, five out of the 20 drivers would have to park their cars at the end of it. For a brief moment, Alphatauri's Pierre Gasly was the fastest man on track.

But then Charles Leclerc finished his timed lap and claimed P1 for himself. At a pace of 1:31.727 minutes, this result would not be matched by any other driver throughout Q1. Yuki Tsunoda jumped into P2 after crossing the finish line in 1:33.472 minutes, but he was replaced by Sergio Perez, which was over a second faster.

Verstappen's onboard camera revealed a top speed of 210 mph (339 kph) down the straight line, and his rhythm was good enough to have him sitting in P2. Daniel Ricciardo showed promise by getting up to P6, but with 10 minutes to go, Lewis Hamilton stepped in and changed that status.

At this point, everyone was wondering if Ferrari would send out Carlos Sainz for a fast lap too. The Spaniard would be starting the race from the back of the grid either way, following a series of changes to his car. Kevin Magnussen was already facing the same situation as well.

Scuderia Ferrari Fans Rejoice After Seeing Their Two Favorites Qualifying in France
Photo: Ferrari
Just moments later, Carlos Sainz was seen going out for a fast lap, and he did not disappoint. He was fast enough to sit in P3, less than a second away from Charles Leclerc. While the fight at the top seemed slightly more relaxed, the bottom five drivers were struggling to get into Q2.

Mick Schumacher made a last-second save to advance to the next session. But his hopes were immediately crushed by the stewards. His lap time had been deleted due to breaching the track limits at turn three on his ninth lap. The other four drivers that would watch the rest of the qualifying session from the side were Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll, Zhou Guanyu, and Nicholas Latifi.

For a second there, Lewis Hamilton must have felt like back in 2018 or 2019 as he became the fastest driver in Q2. Even though Russell took P2, Team Manager Toto Wolff knew that the session was still far from being over.

Lando Norris took over from Hamilton after a lap of 1:32.777, but Leclerc wasn't just going to stand by and do nothing about it. With 10 minutes to go, more changes would follow. Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen would both enjoy being the fastest drivers on track until Carlos Sainz stepped in and showed everyone how fast he can be.

Scuderia Ferrari Fans Rejoice After Seeing Their Two Favorites Qualifying in France
Photo: Ferrari
Alexander Albon was the slowest driver of Q2, as a lap of 1:33.307 wouldn't be enough to see him through to Q3. Sebastian Vettel was third overall in qualifying at the French Grand Prix in 2018, but this time around, he was also knocked out in Q2.

The other three drivers that suffered the same fate were Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon, and Daniel Ricciardo. Looking at Q3, this session was relatively uneventful. Charles Leclerc set the pace once again, and no other driver managed to dip below the 1:31 mark.

With a fast lap of 1:30.872, he was 0.204 seconds faster than Max Verstappen. Sergio Perez took third while Lewis Hamilton was fourth overall. Yuki Tsunoda finished the session in P8, even though he was almost two seconds slower than Ferrari's superstar.

Today's race starts in a few hours, and it's bound to be just as exciting as the Austrian Grand Prix. It will be interesting to see how far up the grid Carlos Sainz will manage to get, seeing that he's starting from P19.
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About the author: Dragos Chitulescu
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The things Dragos enjoys the most in life are, in no particular order: cars, motorcycles, diecast cars, and drifting. He's seen (and driven) many vehicles since he started his writing career back in 2009, but his garage currently houses a 1991 Mazda RX-7 FC3S Turbo II and a 1999 Suzuki SV650-S.
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