French GP FP1 Results | Leclerc fastest, closely followed by Verstappen

Max Verstappen had his name at the top of the timesheet for quite some time during FP1 in France, but in the end he had to put up with Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque narrowly beat Verstappen for the fastest time, while Nyck de Vries held his own by clocking the ninth fastest time.

Verstappen was less than a tenth short of Leclerc's fastest time, clocking a 1:33.930. Behind him, Carlos Sainz set the third fastest time. Sainz will be penalised with a minimum of ten places on the grid on Sunday, but it is possible that the Spaniard will have to start from the back of the grid in the French Grand Prix.

Further down the field, De Vries was able to hold his own in the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, who himself was watching from the sidelines. The Dutchman finished the session on P9, just half a second adrift of fourth-placed George Russell. Pierre Gasly, despite early problems, set a fine fifth time in his home country, with Sergio Perez two tenths of a second behind.