{"id":22347,"date":"2022-07-22T14:44:10","date_gmt":"2022-07-22T14:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/2022-french-grand-prix-fp1-report-highlights-leclerc-beats-verstappen-to-fastest-time-in-opening-french-gp-practice\/"},"modified":"2022-07-22T14:44:10","modified_gmt":"2022-07-22T14:44:10","slug":"2022-french-grand-prix-fp1-report-highlights-leclerc-beats-verstappen-to-fastest-time-in-opening-french-gp-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/2022-french-grand-prix-fp1-report-highlights-leclerc-beats-verstappen-to-fastest-time-in-opening-french-gp-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"2022 French Grand Prix FP1 report & highlights: Leclerc beats Verstappen to fastest time in opening French GP practice"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Charles Leclerc’s French Grand Prix weekend got off to a strong start as he beat championship rival Max Verstappen to the fastest time in opening practice at Circuit Paul Ricard.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Ferrari driver clocked a 1m 33.930s on the soft tire to finish just 0.091s ahead of the Red Bull, however Verstappen lost around two tenths of a second running wide at Turn 11 on his best lap.<\/p>\n

Carlos Sainz was more than 0.3s off the pace in third, the Spaniard facing a tricky weekend ahead after Ferrari fitted a new control electronics to his F1-75 that triggers a 10-place grid penalty.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Sainz set for 10-place grid penalty in France after taking new engine component<\/strong><\/p>\n

All three tire compounds were on show in the opening 60-minute session of the weekend, as teams evaluated how the Pirelli rubber coped with the heatwave cruising across Europe right now. Track temperatures hit 58 degrees Celsius.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n one<\/span>
\n
\n
\n Charles<\/span>
\n Leclerc<\/strong>
\n LEC<\/strong>
\n Ferrari<\/span>
\n <\/span>\n <\/td>\n		\n

1:33.930<\/span>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n 2<\/span>
\n
\n
\n Max<\/span>
\n Verstappen<\/strong>
\n GIVE<\/strong>
\n Red Bull Racing<\/span>
\n <\/span>\n <\/td>\n		\n

+0.091s<\/span>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n 3<\/span>
\n
\n
\n Carlos<\/span>
\n Sainz<\/strong>
\n SAI<\/strong>
\n Ferrari<\/span>
\n <\/span>\n <\/td>\n		\n

+0.338s<\/span>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n 4<\/span>
\n
\n
\n George<\/span>
\n Russell<\/strong>
\n RUSSIAN<\/strong>
\n Mercedes<\/span>
\n <\/span>\n <\/td>\n		\n

+0.951s<\/span>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n 5<\/span>
\n
\n
\n Pierre<\/span>
\n Gasly<\/strong>
\n GAS<\/strong>
\n AlphaTauri<\/span>
\n <\/span>\n <\/td>\n		\n

+1.049s<\/span>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Mercedes, who have brought updates to France, were inside a second of the fastest time, courtesy of George Russell, with the team’s reserve Nyck de Vries borrowing Lewis Hamilton’s car for FP1 and ending up ninth, half a second further back.<\/p>\n

This was the first time in Hamilton’s career \u2013 which hits 300 Grand Prix weekends in France \u2013 that he has given up his car for an FP1 session. The rules mandate each driver must do so at least once this season and the seven-time world champion, who watched the action from the Mercedes garage alongside boss Toto Wolff, chose this weekend to step aside.<\/p>\n

AS IT HAPPENED: Follow all the action from first practice for the French Grand Prix<\/strong><\/p>\n

AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda have been crying out for upgrades, having last received new parts back at race four in Imola, and they have been rewarded at Paul Ricard.<\/p>\n

The early signs are positive, with Pierre Gasly just a second off the pace in fifth in his home race \u2013 however Tsunoda was down in 18th, more than two seconds off the ultimate pace.<\/p>\n

Sergio Perez had a little spin down at Turn 4 before continuing, the Mexican sixth, ahead of the leading McLaren of Lando Norris, whose team have brought more new parts than any other for this weekend.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

FP1 Highlights: French Grand Prix\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

The Briton wasn’t running them in FP1, though, as McLaren did some back-to-back testing with Daniel Ricciardo \u2013 who ended up 10th \u2013 getting the chance to give them a try.<\/p>\n

Alex Albon was a fine eighth for Williams, more than 1.5s ahead of team mate Nicholas Latifi, who was running the new upgrade package for the first time but ended up 20th overall.<\/p>\n

Zhou Guanyu was the leading Alfa Romeo in 11th, ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and home favorite Esteban Ocon in the Alpine, with Sebastian Vettel \u2013 who took a 100-year-old Aston Martin for a spin around Circuit Paul Ricard on Thursday \u2013 14th .<\/p>\n

Double world champion Fernando Alonso was 15th, ahead of the Haas duo of Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen, who are still awaiting their first updates of the season, with Robert Kubica \u2013 borrowing Valtteri Bottas’s car for FP1 \u2013 19th.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Who’s going to score in the 2022 French Grand Prix? Pick your dream team before qualifying and take on the world to win huge prizes with the Official Formula 1 Fantasy game. Sign up, join leagues and manage your squad here.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Charles Leclerc’s French Grand Prix weekend got off to a strong start as he beat championship rival Max Verstappen to the fastest time in opening practice at Circuit Paul Ricard. The Ferrari driver clocked a 1m 33.930s on the soft tire to finish just 0.091s ahead of the Red Bull, however Verstappen lost around two …<\/p>\n

2022 French Grand Prix FP1 report & highlights: Leclerc beats Verstappen to fastest time in opening French GP practice<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22435,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/2022-french-grand-prix-fp2-report-and-highlights-sainz-leads-ferrari-team-mate-leclerc-by-0-1s-in-second-french-gp-practice-session\/","url_meta":{"origin":22347,"position":0},"title":"2022 French Grand Prix FP2 report and highlights: Sainz leads Ferrari team mate Leclerc by 0.1s in second French GP practice session","date":"July 22, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Ferrari stamped their authority on the French Grand Prix weekend as Carlos Sainz beat team mate Charles Leclerc to the quickest time, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen more than 0.5s off the pace. 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Leclerc and Verstappen at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9989,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/leclercs-pace-shows-a-verstappen-victory-is-no-done-deal-racefans\/","url_meta":{"origin":22347,"position":3},"title":"Leclerc’s pace shows a Verstappen victory is no done deal RaceFans","date":"July 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"If adopting the sprint race format was designed to inject more drama and intrigue into all three days of a grand prix weekend, this year's Austrian Grand Prix might be the best example of how this radical new approach can also be a double-edged sword.A tight conclusion to qualifying on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Red Bull Ring, 2022","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.racefans.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Saturday-at-Austrian-GPXPB_1159409_HiRes-470x314.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":29286,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/2022-hungarian-grand-prix-fp1-report-and-highlights-sainz-heads-verstappen-in-opening-hungarian-grand-prix-practice\/","url_meta":{"origin":22347,"position":4},"title":"2022 Hungarian Grand Prix FP1 report and highlights: Sainz heads Verstappen in opening Hungarian Grand Prix practice","date":"July 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Ferrari's Carlos Sainz lay down an early marker as he beat championship leader Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc to the fastest time in opening practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix. 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