F1 Analysis: Verstappen fastest where it matters for the French Grand Prix

Friday practice in France gave plenty of insights in how the running will develop this weekend. One thing for all teams to note is the high temperatures. Europe has experienced a strong heat wave and that remains in place over France this weekend. The air temperature was around the mid-30s. 

The track temperature was almost 60c which is extremely hot. During the first practice session, Leclerc ran very slowly on an out lap. Building up towards a push lap, Leclerc didn't need to put heat into the tyres. That wasn't a problem at all. We could see a lot of cars moving slowly towards the end of the lap in Q1 as they try to take as little life out of the tyre as possible. Traffic might be a problem. 

Mercedes flop?

Mercedes suggested earlier in the week that might be in the fight for the race win or pole position. During the Thursday media sessions, George Russell suggested that if they got everything correct then being within 0.2 seconds was possible. But Friday practice provided no evidence to support they have found improvements. They were almost one full second behind the front runner still. 

Nyck De Vries did a good job replacing Lewis Hamilton in the first free practice session. Each team has to offer up a place to a young driver each year. Hamilton reported that he opted for this weekend deliberately which could be a sign that the seven-time World Champion has a bit more confidence in finding the right set-up with a car described as a "diva". 

Sector times 

The Paul Ricard circuit has a clear distinction between the three sectors. The first sector features both straight-line speed and cornering. Sector two is basically one long straight with the turn 8/9 chicane. The final sector is far twister and features medium and slow-speed corners. 

At the start of the season, Red Bull absolutely dominated straight line performance whereas Ferrari were getting most of their gains through the medium and slow speed corners. The telemetries showed Sainz and Leclerc were able to get the power down earlier, therefore showing Ferrari had the better traction out of the corner compared to Red Bull. Since then, however, a myriad of updates have been applied to the cars and things might have changed slightly. Le Castellet, normally a testing circuit anyway, should provide some good indications as to where the teams stand at the halfway point in the season. 

Another thing has changed. Mercedes have solved the majority of their porpoising issues and seem to be unlocking the potential in the W13. Data suggested that Mercedes were also strong in the medium and slow-speed corners but now we should be getting a real indication of their strengths. 

During FP2, the same traits came true. As they have been all season, Red Bull are strongest down the straights with Verstappen recording the purple time in sector two. However, it's extremely tight between the Sainz and Verstappen which could show two things. It could be, as Christian Horner suggested, that Ferrari are running their engines slightly higher. Or the upgrades Ferrari applied helped them make gains compared to Jeddah earlier in the year. 

Ferrari keep the advantage in the third sector as expected. They also seem to be able to look after their tyres better, which is very helpful on the Paul Ricard circuit as the surface is very hot and abrasive. 

Long run times

One more trait we've seen in the 2022 season: Ferrari get the pole positions, and Red Bull are better when it comes to race pace. The stats say it all. Red Bull have seven wins compared to Ferrari's four. The same numbers are reversed for qualifying. And that looks like it could be the case again this weekend. Though the long runs were actually rather short, Verstappen and Perez both performed well. 

In actual fact, Russell also outperformed both Ferrari cars when the fuel loads were high on the medium tyre. Though it is worth noting that Leclerc sat behind Ocon for a significant period during the long run which would've slowed him down slightly. It is interesting that both Ferrari cars recorded the same time, almost as if it was a target.