Leclerc, pole in the slipstream of Sainz to beat Verstappen

Leclerc continues to believe. He doesn’t give up. He will continue to stand up to the current champion. Although it seems hard to knock down Max Verstappen in Paul Ricardthe Monegasque will try again this weekend from the pole.

Charles Leclerc won his 16th pole on Saturday, his 7th this season after a big boost from Carlos Sainz. The man from Madrid knew before the ‘qualy’ that he would start from the back of the grid this Sunday to change his power unit and dedicated himself to giving Charles a good slipstream in Q3 to catapult him into pole position against Verstappen (2nd at 0″304) and Pérez (3rd at 0″463).

Grid output

French GP 2022

1. Charles Leclerc 1’30,872
2 Max Verstappen 1’31.176
3. Sergio Pérez 1’31.335
4. Lewis Hamilton 1’31,765
5. Lando Norris 1’32.032
6. George Russell 1’32,131
7. Fernando Alonso 1’32.552
8. Yuki Tsunoda 1’32,780
9. Daniel Ricciardo 1’32.922
10. Esteban Ocon 1’33.048
11. Valtteri Bottas 1’33.052
12. Sebastian Vettel 1’33.276
13. Alexander Albon 1’33.307
14. Pierre Gasly 1’33,439
15. Lance Stroll 1’33.439
16. Zhou Guanyu 1’33,674
17. Mick Schumacher 1’33.701
18. Nicholas Latifi 1’33,794
19. Carlos Sainz – No Time*
20. Kevin Magnussen – Out of Time*
*They come from under the grid due to a change in the power unit.

before that, Carlos Sainz he will take care of sending the message he should. Had he not had to change the engine, as a result of his engine fire in Austria two weeks ago, the man from Madrid could have fought hard for pole position. The Spaniard was very comfortable all weekend on his wheel ferrariwhich continued his good form from the last few races, and in Q2 he placed at least 9 tenths on Verstappen and more than a tenth on his teammate Leclerc, who had set the weekend record up to that point .

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“I think this will be enough,” he said between laughs. I had to go to Q3 because a position at the bottom of the grid was at stake Magnussen, who also changed engines. And since he’s there, he could go for his second pole, but that will only be statistically significant. I’ll start on the 19th if I lose Kevin. Finally the Danish didn’t come out and that position was for him. But the priority this Saturday was to help Charles, as it was, so that the Leclerc left this Sunday from the first position.

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Double draft in Q3

Good teamwork from Carlos, who gave Charles a good slipstream on the second part of the long Mistral straight, breaking away at the right moment to finish ‘Il Principino’. That allowed Leclerc to succeed Verstappen by 8 thousandths in the first attempt of Q3, something important for the Dutchman to face the second and final attempt under pressure and Leclerc did it with the pole in his pocket. However, Leclerc was too close to Carlos in that first attempt and this was his chance to perfect that slipstream in the second. And there Charles ended up staying on pole, completing a vueltón after good combined work and a better slipstream from sainz.

“Great. Great, Carlos!” Charles expressed on the radio after crossing the finish line. But be careful, because this Sunday everything will be more complicated.

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Leclerc, alone in the face of danger

Leclerc will be alone in the face of danger this Sunday. Sainz will start 19th with the aim of coming back and minimizing losses. But far from joining the battle of Charles and the two Red Bulls. Pérez improved his performance at the crucial moment to place 3rd and play a key role this Sunday. The Milton Keynes men will thus be able to vary their strategies to attack the number ’16’ and force the Ferrari wall’s umpteenth error. And not only that, ‘Checo’ will be looking to complete a double shielding Max to allow the reigning champion to leave Paul Ricard with a higher profit in his World Cup lead, something that will be a real blow for the transalpines in full pursuit.

On a more difficult circuit for the front tires, Red Bull, who cares more about the front tires, had a harder time than Ferrari to get the tires to the right temperature in a turn and that once again decided matters on the Ferrari side. But at the pace of this Sunday’s race the same concept can give victory to red bull. Ferrari is the favorite on tracks like the one from two weeks ago, Austria, where the rear tire is more demanding. It’s the opposite and Red Bull showed tremendous speed on Friday. Verstappen starts 2nd but is the favorite along with his teammate Pérez. Charles will be a difficult ballot. He will try to fight from the start with the new clutch fitted by Ferrari. But it will be tough against the top with Red Bull DRS.

Hamilton, 4th and Alonso 7th

Lewis Hamilton finished in fourth position, proving that Mercedes remains a world one lap behind Ferrari and Red Bull. Brackley’s car is still struggling to get the tires up to temperature after one lap, but look out for the race pace that Lewis and Russell (6th) can show this Sunday, as they have shown some devilish pace in racing this season . The question is whether that speed is enough to fight it all. So far it seems not, but they are going for the surprise.

Between the two Mercedes, the renewed McLaren of Norris slipped in ‘in extremis’, again leaving his teammate Ricciardo in evidence, who was 11th, unable to enter Q3, completely sunk. Fifth place for Lando relegated Fernando Alonso to 7th place.

The Spaniard again showed a high level at the wheel of his Alpine, higher than Ocon, who was 12th, who was eliminated in Q2 at his home Grand Prix. The man from Oviedo once again squeezed his weapons to the maximum and will try to do it again this Sunday if he doesn’t get hurt this time.