Formula 1 championship leader Max Verstappen stamped his authority on the French Grand Prix by finishing final practice over seven-tenths clear of the field.
Verstappen set a potential session-leading time but it was deleted after he was judged to have exceeded track limits through Turn 6 at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Verstappen went again and clocked a time of 1:31.300s to leave him a mammoth 0.747s clear of Mercedes rival Valtteri Bottas.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was an eye-catching third in a session in which team-mate Charles Leclerc finished outside of the top 10.
Baku winner Sergio Perez was almost a second behind his Red Bull team-mate but his time was still sufficient for fourth spot.
Verstappen’s primary title rival Lewis Hamilton continued his relatively subdued weekend by classifying in fifth position.
Norris fronts Alpine duo
Lando Norris was within a tenth of a second of compatriot Hamilton as he finished sixth, ahead of the Alpine drivers.
Fernando Alonso was seventh, in front of home representative Esteban Ocon, with fellow Frenchman Pierre Gasly in ninth spot for AlphaTauri.
McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top 10, with Leclerc a low-key 11th for Ferrari.
Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi headed Aston Martin duo Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel, with the Kimi Raikkonen 15th.
George Russell placed within a tenth of Raikkonen – suggesting Williams can once more fight for Q2 – while Yuki Tsunoda languished in 17th after having a time deleted.
Nicholas Latifi was 18th, while Haas duo Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin were adrift at the rear of the field.
Schumacher faced a deficit of almost six-tenths to Latifi while Mazepin – who spun through Turn 2 – was half a second down on his team-mate.
Qualifying for Formula 1’s French Grand Prix is scheduled for 15:00 local time.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:31.300 | 11 | |||
| 2 |
 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:32.047 | 0.747 | 14 | ||
| 3 |
 | Carlos Sainz Jr | Ferrari | 1:32.195 | 0.895 | 17 | ||
| 4 |
 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1:32.238 | 0.938 | 15 | ||
| 5 |
 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:32.266 | 0.966 | 15 | ||
| 6 |
| Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:32.336 | 1.036 | 14 | ||
| 7 |
| Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 1:32.624 | 1.324 | 15 | ||
| 8 |
 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1:32.681 | 1.381 | 16 | ||
| 9 |
| Pierre Gasly | RB | 1:32.707 | 1.407 | 16 | ||
| 10 |
 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 1:32.759 | 1.459 | 14 | ||
| 11 |
 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:32.820 | 1.520 | 15 | ||
| 12 |
 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Sauber | 1:33.017 | 1.717 | 17 | ||
| 13 |
 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:33.051 | 1.900 | 15 | ||
| 14 |
 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 1:33.200 | 2.028 | 18 | ||
| 15 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | Sauber | 1:33.328 | 2.064 | 16 | ||
| 16 |
| George Russell | Williams | 1:33.364 | 2.124 | 16 | ||
| 17 |
 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 1:33.424 | 2.284 | 17 | ||
| 18 |
| Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 1:33.584 | 2.844 | 16 | ||
| 19 |
| Mick Schumacher | Haas | 1:34.143 | 2.843 | 14 | ||
| 20 |
 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | 1:34.642 | 3.342 | 13 |
