First Free Practice Results 2022 French F1 Grand Prix

Event: French F1 Grand Prix
Track: Paul Ricard Circuit

Max Verstappen driving the Red Bull Racing RB18 leading Daniel Ricciardo driving the  McLaren MCL36 Mercedes during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of France at Circuit Paul Ricard on July 22, 2022 in Le Castellet, France. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Weather: dry  29.5-29.1°C
Tarmac: dry  54.8-59.3°C
Humidity : 46-52%
Wind : 1.7-2.2 m/s SE
Pressure: 968.7 bar

The first practice for the upcoming 2022 French Formula 1 Grand Prix was driven under scorching hot weather conditions. With a track temperature of more then 55°C, the drivers did not have any problems to get heat in the tyres.

Nyck de Vries was driving Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes W13 this session. Last year's Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas also wasn't driving his Alfa Romeo this session. His car was driven by their reserve driver Robert Kubica.

After 5 minutes Charles Leclerc topped the timesheet with a 1:37.420 min in the Ferrari. One minute later his title rival this year Max Verstappen improved that time with by not less then 1.7 sec in the Red Bull. Verstappen's his first clocked lap time was a 1:35.727 min. Both drivers used the soft tyre compound, while all other drivers in the top 5 were on medium tyres.

Ten minutes into this FP1 session Verstappen's teammate Sergio Pérez joined him on top of the timesheet on P2. The Mexican driver was 1.171 sec. behind on the same soft compound tyres. After 20 minutes Pérez had a huge spin at turn 3 and destroyed his set of soft tyres, but could keep it out of the barrier.

Halfway the session the top 10 order was 1. Verstappen (1:34.991 min | S), 2. Pérez (+0.571s | S), 3. Leclerc (+0.830s | S), 4. Russell (+0.860s | M), 5. Sainz (+1.051s | S), 6. Gasly (1.158s | M), 7. De Vries (+1.331s | M), 8. Ocon (1.775s | S), 9. Ricciardo (+1.775 | M) & 10. Alonso (1.814s | S).

Not much drama happened during the session. A few drivers went wide at some corners and all teams where able to run their practice programme to get in shape for tomorrow's qualifying and Sunday's race.

With five minutes to go Leclerc was topping the timesheet and the order was: 1. Leclerc (1:33.930 min | S), 2. Verstappen (+0.091s | S), 3. Sainz (+0.338s | S), 4. Russell (+0.951s | S), 5. Gasly (+1.049s | S).

1:33.448 min was the fastest lap time of last year's FP1 in France. It was clocked by Valtteri Bottas with the Mercedes W12.

FP1 Times Table 2022 French GP

✅ Don't forget to check out our 2022 French F1 Grand Prix preview info.

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