Here is the provisional grid for the 2018 French Grand Prix:
| Row 1 | 1. Lewis Hamilton 1’30.029 Mercedes |
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| 2. Valtteri Bottas 1’30.147 Mercedes |
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| Row 2 | 3. Sebastian Vettel 1’30.400 Ferrari |
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| 4. Max Verstappen 1’30.705 Red Bull |
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| Row 3 | 5. Daniel Ricciardo 1’30.895 Red Bull |
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| 6. Kimi Raikkonen 1’31.057 Ferrari |
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| Row 4 | 7. Carlos Sainz Jnr 1’32.126 Renault |
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| 8. Charles Leclerc 1’32.635 Sauber |
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| Row 5 | 9. Kevin Magnussen 1’32.930 Haas |
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| 10. Romain Grosjean No time Haas |
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| Row 6 | 11. Esteban Ocon 1’32.075 Force India |
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| 12. Nico Hulkenberg 1’32.115 Renault |
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| Row 7 | 13. Sergio Perez 1’32.454 Force India |
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| 14. Pierre Gasly 1’32.460 Toro Rosso |
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| Row 8 | 15. Marcus Ericsson 1’32.820 Sauber |
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| 16. Fernando Alonso 1’32.976 McLaren |
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| Row 9 | 17. Stoffel Vandoorne 1’33.162 McLaren |
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| 18. Sergey Sirotkin 1’33.636 Williams |
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| Row 10 | 19. Lance Stroll 1’33.729 Williams |
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| 20. Brendon Hartley* 1’33.025 Toro Rosso |
*Will start from the back of the grid due to a power unit change
2018 French Grand Prix
- French GP organisers will respond to fans over traffic chaos
- Hamilton has now won at every track on the F1 calendar
- 2018 French Grand Prix Star Performers
- French GP traffic problems due to “stunning location” – Brawn
- Hamilton regains points lead in F1’s forgettable return to France
Gabriel (@rethla)
23rd June 2018, 16:15
Stellar performance by Leclerc and dissapointing by both Haas drivers. Bottas managed to hold back the sandbagging Ferraris after all.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
23rd June 2018, 16:17
Vettel tried too hard on his final lap. He should have just accepted the fact that he won’t beat Mercedes on these tyres.
Gabriel (@rethla)
23rd June 2018, 16:19
He is not payed to accept being beaten unlike Kimi.
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
23rd June 2018, 16:25
What was Kimi even doing?! He made several mistakes on all of his 3 (!!) Q3 hotlaps…. I love him, but I think he’s done.
Jere (@jerejj)
23rd June 2018, 16:53
@jeffreyj Miscommunication between him and the team also played a prominent role in why he only managed 6th in Q3.
Gabriel (@rethla)
24th June 2018, 12:21
@jerejj
Thats what happens when your “communication” is just funny mumbles.
mystic one (@mysticus)
23rd June 2018, 16:20
Mercedes not Hamilton was better as usual…
Mercedes engine back to normal winning form whereas Hamilton was just a formality in the car… /s
Tom
23rd June 2018, 16:27
You’re completely wrong of course as the better driver ends up in front of their team mate. I sure you’ll get the hang of F1 soon so stick at it.
mystic one (@mysticus)
23rd June 2018, 16:30
@TOM
/S is for a reason mate :)
Tom
23rd June 2018, 16:37
2 for 2 there with comments that make zero sense.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
23rd June 2018, 16:43
/s is an extremely common internet shortcut to indicate a comment is sarcastic. mystic one is just gently poking fun at the people who are likely to attribute the Mercedes front-row lockout to the car, and not the driver.
I’m sure you’ll get the hang of internet comment shorthand soon, so stick at it.
Tom
23rd June 2018, 16:51
I think that’s gone straight over your head @phylyp
Thanks for the laugh though.
mystic one (@mysticus)
24th June 2018, 16:58
@phylyp
thank you for the explanation :) same comments week in and out about hamilton being mediocre driver and it is PU/Car giving him the wins when he is on top, and it is him and never PU/Car when he drops behind… thats the reason of sarcasm…
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
23rd June 2018, 16:27
Yeah, I’m afraid you’re wright. On this track Mercedes have about .5 seconds on Ferrari and .7 to Redbull. That doesn’t bode well.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
23rd June 2018, 16:21
It was very charming to see the pleasant disbelief and surprise on the faces of the Sauber staff (Vasseur, etc.). I do wish Leclerc gets his promotion into Ferrari for 2019.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
23rd June 2018, 16:28
I can partly understand why many are wanting this, but a step up to another team would be better IMO. It is rare the jumping a driver up so soon to a top team works out so well. Verstappen happened to be the exception. Kvyat didn’t. Not saying Leclerc will be bad, but Sauber looks to be getting better. So if they and him keep improving, another year here won’t be that bad to do. Or maybe a Hass drive. If he instantly impresses there and continues throughout the year, then Ferrari certainly would be a good place. But basing 4 races of beating who many think is the worst on the grid is possibly a bit soon to show how good he is. That said, I expect he will get to be very strong.
Michael Brown (@)
23rd June 2018, 16:29
>implying that Ericsson is worse than Stroll
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
23rd June 2018, 20:09
I don’t think that at all. I’d quite easily say Stroll is worse than Ericsson.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
23rd June 2018, 16:39
@thegianthogweed – that makes a lot of sense, move Leclerc to Haas as a stepping stone.
It’s not just his performance vs. his teammate that was impressive today, it was dragging that Sauber quite a way ahead that is also impressive.
gus maia
23rd June 2018, 16:47
Plus, Ferrari is not famous for promoting young drivers.
They usually got champions ot decade-career drivers.
Illusive (@illusive)
23rd June 2018, 16:24
Sauber in Q3, thats a great performance from charles.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
23rd June 2018, 16:32
Appaling performance for the McLarens. So painful to watch. It’s heartbreaking to see my two favourite drivers almost dead last. Each year McLaren drains my joy and interest even more but this 2018 failure is beyond hope.
Tom
23rd June 2018, 16:41
I love it. They’ve thrown Honda under the bus for the last few years shouting none sense about having the best chassis. RedBull will win with Honda in the next few years and personally I can’t wait.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
23rd June 2018, 16:50
I’m not interested in knowing you love watching teams drown.
Tom
23rd June 2018, 16:53
And I’m not interested in hearing you love McLaren. Everyone’s a winner then. @spoutnik
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
23rd June 2018, 17:01
The love I got for McLaren is only in your head. Have a good day.
Mb
23rd June 2018, 17:25
I love watching teams’ hubris amount to nothing. Poetic justice. @spoutnik
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
24th June 2018, 23:02
While there is thruth about hubris asking for payback, relishing in others’ misery is a pastime I don’t have and with McLaren failure all I see is drivers that struggle. Unfortunately for me both its drivers are those I cheer for. @mbr-9
Phylyp (@phylyp)
23rd June 2018, 16:46
@spoutnik – the one clear pattern this year is that some cars are strong on specific circuits, and poor on others. (It has always been the case in the past, but back then the “natural order” tended to prevail over this trend for the most part, so one could expect a team like Force India or Williams to usually round out the top 10). This does seem to be a circuit that McLaren are struggling on as much as Haas are shining.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
23rd June 2018, 16:59
@phylyp It is indeed probably more a pattern this year than last year but my feeling is that McLaren has absolutely crashed down this year. Monaco performance was lame and I expect they will be overwhelmed in Hungary and Singapore. I can’t find any strenght in this car and feel it’s hopeless. I’m sorry to sound so negative and hope to be proven wrong but I’m currently extremely disappointed. :(
Fortunately there’s a few things positive in other teams, such as Sainz-Ocon-Leclerc-Gasly performance, Sauber revival, Renault progression, Toro Rosso performance but I find it difficult to feel excitement lately.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
23rd June 2018, 16:35
Ferrari best car, uh?!?!?! It’s obvious this gap to VET is not because of the new Mercedes engine performance.
Ferrari should have put Leclerc in the car and there’re big chances he would have been champ at the end of the year……. Ericsson is not the best comparison point, but there’s a strong feeling he’s the 2nd VER from the grid. I’m also starting to feel that Ferrari is losing time with VET too, they just should put Leclerc in the car and back him up 110%, the same RBR did with Vettel 10 years ago and doing with VER now.
Gabriel (@rethla)
23rd June 2018, 16:37
Ferrari need a driver change but its not Vettel that is past his due.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
23rd June 2018, 16:56
I know, didn’t say that either. Just that every year is a missed opportunity, this is his 4th year with Ferrari and this love saga might prove to be overall another ALO tenure.
Tom
23rd June 2018, 16:46
One race doesn’t make a season @mg1982
Over the first 9 races the Ferrari on average is the quickest car this year. Just two weeks ago Ferrari were on pole and dominating the race. Next week they’ll likely be quicker again too. It’s not as clear as the last few years who’s the quickest as it changes depending on the circuit. So far though it has been Ferrari.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
23rd June 2018, 16:49
I’d agree, Tom, there was a tweet in the round-up a couple of days ago that showed the average of the best times by team at each track this year, and it was Ferrari who topped it (of course that stat might now be dented a bit after today!), but the front row/pole does seem to be a tussle between the two teams, and the outcome is heavily circuit-specific.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
23rd June 2018, 16:47
@mg1982 – umm, am I failing to see a sarcasm tag somewhere? Vettel was the better of the two Ferraris today, and has been for a good part of the season. Yes, he couldn’t take it to the Mercedes cars, but apart from overdriving his final Q3 attempt, I’d hardly call him as underperforming.
FlatSix (@)
23rd June 2018, 18:39
@phylyp Overdriving his Ferrari today was to my reckoning his first and only mistake this season. If he had a very good lap he might have gotten second. What @mg1982 is alluding to is just plain nonsense, without Vettel Ferrari would simply not be where they are today. I do agree they should put Leclerc next to him for 2019, but the idea that Leclerc would outrace Vettel all of a sudden is a bit farfetched for now.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
23rd June 2018, 20:13
I don’t understand why so many people seem determined to know that there is a “best car” and what that team is. lets face it, we can’t tell if it is Ferrari or Mercedes or sometimes Red Bull. It will change from track to track. I think Red bull are the weakest of these 3, but Ferrari and Mercedes have both been good at different circuits. They are really close, or one or other has the advantage and sometimes Red Bull joins in too.
budchekov (@budchekov)
23rd June 2018, 16:55
Anyone notice that on TV those hideous overdone red and blue stripes distract from the cars being the focus of interest?
I wonder if sponsors are not amused.
Kinda like Where’s Waldo in the turns.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
23rd June 2018, 16:59
Almost any light-coloured car will look like a Williams :-) @budchekov
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
23rd June 2018, 20:33
the Sauber and Williams are far to similar when approaching you from the front if seen in the distance. You can hardly tell the difference at all.
Gabriel (@rethla)
23rd June 2018, 17:02
It didnt distract me one bit from the cars.
VR
23rd June 2018, 19:52
Ricciardo + Leclerc at Ferrari’2019?..
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
23rd June 2018, 20:38
Erm, Vettel has contract? ….
VR
25th June 2018, 9:39
Sure does. But so did Kvyat, Speed, Bourdais, Perez, Heidfield, Prost among others.
Fletcher LeGardy (@fsliv)
23rd June 2018, 21:34
Now I would pay to see this, Ricciardo and Leclerc at Ferrari and Vetal and Verstappan at RBR. Pure fire.
Gabriel (@rethla)
24th June 2018, 12:24
@fsliv Vettel ain going back.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
23rd June 2018, 21:50
Mercedes strong as expected. Raikkonen underwhelms yet again.
Ericsson reaches Q2 for the first time only to be utterly overshadowed by Leclerc getting into Q3.
Grosjean lucky to only lose three places with silly crash.
The McLaren slide goes on…