Le CASTELLET, France: Carlos Sainz led Charles Leclerc at the top of the times on Friday as Ferrari dominated second practice for the French Grand Prix ahead of world championship leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull.
The Ferrari pair swapped fastest laps in a closely-contested session in bright sunshine, Sainz making light of the prospect of a 10-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race after taking new power-train components.
The Spaniard, who scored his maiden victory at the British Grand Prix earlier this month, clocked a best lap in one minute and 32.527 seconds to beat his Monegasque team-mate by 0.101seconds.
Verstappen was a competitive third ahead of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in the two freshly-updated Mercedes and Lando Norris who was sixth for McLaren.
Kevin Magnussen was seventh for Haas ahead of Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri, Daniel Ricciardo in the second McLaren and Sergio Perez, in the second Red Bull.
The session was uninterrupted and largely uneventful as the teams adapted to the heat — the track temperature was 50 degrees and the air 34 degrees — in front of a big holiday crowd.
The circuit is sold out for both Saturday and Sunday, according to the organizers at the Paul Ricard circuit, where the two Alpine drivers set the initial early pace with Fernando Alonso topping Esteban Ocon before Magnussen and then Russell took over until Leclerc arrived.
The reinvigorated Leclerc, who won the last race in Austria, had been quickest in the first session and was swift to pick up where he left off in the earlier action.
As expected, it was a tight contest and four minutes later Verstappen edged ahead by 0.010 seconds only for Sainz, facing a grid penalty on Sunday, to sweep clear at the top by 0.850 in 1:33.322.
The heat appeared to have a soporific effect on everyone for a short period before Leclerc returned to beat his Ferrari team-mate’s time by 0.186 only for the Spaniard to respond and jump six-tenths clear.
It was clear that Ferrari had found a sweet spot in their car set-up, but Verstappen was close to matching them on soft tires, the Dutchman moving up to second briefly before Leclerc replaced him.
Sainz leads Leclerc in Ferrari one-two in French GP practice
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Sainz leads Leclerc in Ferrari one-two in French GP practice
- The Ferrari pair swapped fastest laps in a closely-contested session in bright sunshine
- The Spaniard clocked a best lap in one minute and 32.527 seconds to beat his Monegasque team-mate by 0.101seconds
Real Madrid weigh Mbappe gamble ahead of Spanish Super Cup final
Real Madrid could unleash their biggest weapon in Sunday’s Spanish Super Cup final against Barcelona, with coach Xabi Alonso saying they are considering taking a risk on Kylian Mbappe’s fitness after he missed the semifinal. Mbappe, who matched Cristiano Ronaldo’s club record of 59 goals in a calendar year during Real’s 2-0 LaLiga win over Sevilla last month, is nursing a knee injury.
The France forward, who has scored 12 goals in nine matches against Barcelona, flew to Saudi Arabia on Friday to join the squad ahead of the El Clasico showdown in Jeddah.
“He’s much better,” Alonso told reporters. “Against Atletico, he was just about ready, and we decided not to rush him, but we kept in mind that he might be able to play in the final.
“He flew yesterday and will train with the team today. We’ll assess him and decide whether he’ll start or play a little less. It’s a decision we’ll make with the player, the coaches and the doctors. The moment we’re in and what’s at stake ... It’s a controlled risk.”
Real beat Barcelona 2-1 at the Bernabeu in October after losing the Spanish Super Cup final and the Copa del Rey final to their arch-rivals last season.
“We’re focused on what we have to do and how to play the match,” Alonso said. “It will be a match with moments for everything. We have to have the necessary energy.”
Barcelona manager Hansi Flick described Mbappe as the best striker around.
“We’ll adapt a little, but so will Real Madrid,” the German said. “We have to play the way Barcelona always plays, with our style, which is different from Real Madrid’s.
Barcelona lead LaLiga with 49 points from 19 matches, four ahead of second-placed Real.
Flick confirmed Lamine Yamal was ready to start, having come on as a substitute in Barcelona’s
5-0 semifinal thrashing of Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday.
