Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton bagged pole position in the 2018 French GP at the Circuit Paul Ricard. The defending champion led a Mercedes 1-2 ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo in the other Red Bull rounded out the top 5 with Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari 6th.
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One of the more astounding revelations was Alfa Romeo Sauber’s Charles LeClerc in 8th. He starts behind Renault’s Carlos Sainz Jr and ahead of both Haas drivers. Speaking of the Haas drivers, Romain Grosjean brought out the red flag after he spun and hit the barriers in Q3. Fortunately, the clock stopped with 7 minutes left, giving everyone plenty of time to improve their lap times. Despite the shunt, Grosjean is still the highest-starting local driver for tomorrow’s race.
Missing out on the top 10 are Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg, Sergio Perez, Pierre Gasly and Marcus Ericsson. Ocon and Hulkenberg were unlucky to just miss out on a Q3 position as the gap was less than a tenth.
Filling up the final grid positions were the two McLarens of Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne, the 2 Williams of Sergey Sirotkin and Lance Stroll and Brendon Hartley. In the case of Hartley, he had to change a few engine parts and will receive a penalty.
There was a minor scare for several drivers as the heavens opened slightly, but most of them survived. Here is how Twitter reacted t the French GP qualifying session.
This qualifying only increased the feeling of inevitability surrounding Kimi's future with Ferrari. He is my favorite driver but seems to have lost his edge over the years and has let his team down for too long now. LeClerc seems to represent Ferrari's future now. #FrenchGP
Yes! Get in!!! Awesome pole position for @LewisHamilton and a great 1-2 for @ValtteriBottas @MercedesAMGF1 Confident it can be a victory tomorrow. #FrenchGP #C4F1 🇫🇷
The great thing about going off the road at Paul Ricard is that you never really go off the road.... you just take a slightly different track configuration :) #FrenchGP
Another woeful qualifying from the once mighty @McLarenF1 & @WilliamsRacing teams. When I started watching #F1 these were the teams to beat. Really hope they both turn it around very soon. #FrenchGP
lol no one's as bad as Maldonado but Grosjean is certainly in one of the biggest career freefalls I've ever seen & I'm including the VW & Audi bosses in that (Maldonado peaked in the junior formula so had no where to fall).
https://twitter.com/DavidePizzetti/status/1010549488002457605
https://twitter.com/raunaqsingh11/status/1010549448999653376
https://twitter.com/Nack5513/status/1010549369144164352
https://twitter.com/realguy567/status/1010549131742507009
Alonso and McLaren a complete joke, Grosjean crashes, Max beats Dan and Lewis on pole. Normal Qualifying session really.
Get LeClerc in a Ferrari now.
Leclerc about to start P9 at least!
Remember when some said Leclerc would be under huge pressure after the Ferrari rumors. He delivered a Q3 as a respond 😎
We've talked rather a lot about Leclerc during this qualifying but his P8 is three tenths up on Magnussen's Haas, despite the American team having had a fairly speedy weekend. Best-of-the-rest Sainz five tenths further ahead.
Wow. @Charles_Leclerc, you are an absolute STAR. Of course I’m gutted for @OconEsteban, but this is a special moment. Charles, you are making history. Your dad would be so proud. #F1
Today is a prime example of why @ScuderiaFerrari are thinking of replacing #kimi with @Charles_Leclerc he is clearly a very gifted guy and kimi just seems to be treading water at the moment!