The French Grand Prix weekend got off to a hot start and the battle in front seems to be as tight as ever. Lewis Hamilton registered the fastest laps in both sessions, with Valtteri Bottas in second place during FP1. Red Bull‘s Daniel Ricciardo followed the English driver in FP2.

Friday Free Practice Results

Scuderia Ferrari remained in its typical Friday approach. Kimi Raikkonen lined up fourth in both practice sessions and the championship leader, Sebastian Vettel, was fifth in both practice sessions.

The main takeaways from both sessions were:

While Lewis Hamilton had a problem-free Friday, Valtteri Bottas missed most of FP2 due to mechanical problems.
Sauber‘s Marcus Ericsson had a big crash during FP1. His car burst into flames, and the Swedish driver could not take part in FP2.
Haas F1 team returned to its former position as “best of the rest”.
Mercedes’ engine upgrade gave Mercedes and its customers a boost in straight line speed.
FP2 was red-flagged because of a loose wheel on Sergio Pérez‘s Force India.
Brendon Hartley of Toro Rosso suffered an engine issue at the end of FP2
Lap times in FP2 were slower than FP1 due to the increased track temperstures and wind effect.

Conclusions

Mercedes looks like the fastest team so far at the Paul Ricard Circuit. Ferrari had excellent pace during the long runs and showed it would compete on Saturday for qualifying and on Sunday during the race. Red Bull Racing drivers are also close on race pace. An intriguing Saturday is set to unfold at the French GP.

Results of FP2:

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Time	Gap	Laps
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:32.539		27
2	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	1:33.243	+0.704s	31
3	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	1:33.271	+0.732s	24
4	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:33.426	+0.887s	29
5	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:33.689	+1.150s	35
6	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas Ferrari	1:33.699	+1.160s	30
7	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:34.156	+1.617s	7
8	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Renault	1:34.400	+1.861s	24
9	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	1:34.457	+1.918s	33
10	10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	1:34.535	+1.996s	35
11	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	1:35.067	+2.528s	30
12	55	Carlos Sainz	Renault	1:35.086	+2.547s	33
13	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren Renault	1:35.172	+2.633s	28
14	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber Ferrari	1:35.583	+3.044s	33
15	28	Brendon Hartley	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	1:35.697	+3.158s	31
16	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India Mercedes	1:35.705	+3.166s	25
17	18	Lance Stroll	Williams Mercedes	1:35.936	+3.397s	34
18	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams Mercedes	1:35.970	+3.431s	35
19	11	Sergio Perez	Force India Mercedes	1:36.080	+3.541s	13

Results of FP1:

POS	NO	DRIVER	CAR	TIME	GAP	LAPS
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	MERCEDES	1:32.231		25
2	77	Valtteri Bottas	MERCEDES	1:32.371	+0.140s	29
3	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER	1:32.527	+0.296s	25
4	7	Kimi Räikkönen	FERRARI	1:33.003	+0.772s	23
5	5	Sebastian Vettel	FERRARI	1:33.172	+0.941s	19
6	8	Romain Grosjean	HAAS FERRARI	1:33.318	+1.087s	22
7	33	Max Verstappen	RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER	1:33.331	+1.100s	15
8	10	Pierre Gasly	SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA	1:33.685	+1.454s	23
9	11	Sergio Perez	FORCE INDIA MERCEDES	1:33.719	+1.488s	26
10	20	Kevin Magnussen	HAAS FERRARI	1:34.108	+1.877s	23
11	55	Carlos Sainz	RENAULT	1:34.258	+2.027s	25
12	31	Esteban Ocon	FORCE INDIA MERCEDES	1:34.484	+2.253s	14
13	16	Charles Leclerc	SAUBER FERRARI	1:34.513	+2.282s	21
14	9	Marcus Ericsson	SAUBER FERRARI	1:34.592	+2.361s	21
15	28	Brendon Hartley	SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA	1:34.664	+2.433s	25
16	14	Fernando Alonso	MCLAREN RENAULT	1:34.862	+2.631s	20
17	18	Lance Stroll	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	1:34.881	+2.650s	28
18	27	Nico Hulkenberg	RENAULT	1:34.993	+2.762s	24
19	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	MCLAREN RENAULT	1:35.021	+2.790s	24
20	35	Sergey Sirotkin	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	1:35.105	+2.874s	25