Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton continued to set the pace in Formula 1’s French GP in FP2 with the Red Bull Racing drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen finishing second and third respectively.
It was a similar sort of session at Paul Ricard in FP2 with drivers finding it hard to stay on the track due to the changing wind direction. Many drivers had spins and minor offs in the session which was once again disrupted with a red flag.
It was caused by Force India’s Sergio Perez when his left rear tyre came off midway in the session. It was a strange incident as the Mexican had completed an out lap comfortably and was on his quick lap when the tyre came off.
Haas’ Romain Grosjean had an early off while Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen had a spin in Turn 2 – the Finn also had one in FP1 but it was at Turn 6. Sauber’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso were also among the victims while Perez had an off on his first stint before his session-ending mishap.
Meanwhile, Mercedes’ Hamilton (1m32.539s) continued to dominate the French GP weekend by yet again topping the standings but had the Red Bull drivers’ right behind him – with Ricciardo (1m33.243s) only 0.028s ahead of Verstappen (1m33.271s).
The Ferrari drivers were once again off the Top 3 positions as Kimi Raikkonen led Sebastian Vettel in a FP1 repeat with Grosjean again finishing in sixth ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, whose session ended early for a precautionary check due to a water leak.
A late quick lap from McLaren’s Fernando Alonso (1m34.400s) put him in eighth ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen (1m34.457s), showcasing the American outfit’s pace, the same way Toro Rosso Honda’s Pierre Gasly (1m32.535s) did in 10th.
Just outside the Top 10 was the two Renaults of Nico Hulkenberg (1m35.067s) and Carlos Sainz (1m35.086s) after solving some teething issues, followed by McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne (1m35.172s) – the team also having some set-up changes.
Behind, it was the sole Sauber of Leclerc (1m35.583s) in 14th after Marcus Ericsson was forced to sit out due to his FP1 crash which damaged his chassis. The team decided to build a new chassis while send the damaged one to be repaired at the factory.
Meanwhile, Toro Rosso Honda’s Brendon Hartley (1m35.697s) had another unfortunate end to his session in 15th. He stopped with eight minutes remaining due to an apparent engine issue – he was running the new spec unit.
After troubles to Perez’s Force India, his teammate Esteban Ocon (1m35.705s) was only 16th from Williams’ Lance Stroll (1m35.936s) and Sergey Sirotkin (1m35.970s). Perez (1m36.080s) did manage to come out for another run, but he was just 19th.