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The French Grand Prix has officially returned to the Formula One calendar and the first and second sessions of Free Practise are out of the way.
The most notable feature of the two sessions wasn’t any particular car or driver, but probably the complex nature of the Paul Ricard circuit. The track utilizes blue and red painted run-off areas that, along with the different circuit layout combinations, might cause slight dizziness at first glance.
The red stripes are the more abrasive and gripping of the two, and both are supposed to slow down high-speed cars that might take a detour from the regular piece of tarmac.
However, the first practice was brought to a halt by Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber spinning off and the colourful lines were not enough to stop the car from hitting the barriers and catching fire. Thankfully, the Swedish driver climbed out of his car and walked off.
The weekend is setting up to be an exciting one as not all drivers have experience of racing at the Paul Ricard.
To top it off, the driver’s championship is shaping up quite nicely, with only one point separating the top two contenders, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.
It remains to be seen whether either of the two would show up and claim the win on Sunday or whether it would be snatched from them by someone else entirely, but either way, the race promises to be an exciting affair.
Let’s have a look at five predictions for the qualifying session on Saturday:
#5 The Frenchmen have a collective good weekend
Three Frenchmen would be racing in this year’s French Grand Prix- Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly and Romain Grosjean. All of them would be looking forward to driving in front of the home fans and would be hoping for a satisfactory result.
Haas have shown improvement during Friday practice and luck might be turning a tide for Grosjean who finished sixth during both the sessions. If he were to have a smooth drive on Saturday, he could acquire a top ten grid position.
Gasly has also shown speed and might feature in the list of Q3 drivers if things were to go as per plan for the Toro Rosso driver. The 22-year-old has been continuously impressive this season and he would be likely to put in a good performance in his homeland.
However, it seems to not be a weekend to rejoice for the third Frenchman. While Force India would be hoping for Ocon to secure a competitive position, it is looking dubious with Ocon running in the bottom half of the group.
#4 McLaren bad to worse
Fernando Alonso would be coming off a high from his recent 24 Hours of Le Mans victory but that high seems to not be enough to propel him into the top 10 of qualifying.
McLaren has had a relatively better season this year than their recent past and has attained enough points to sit behind only their engine supplier’s works team, Renault, in the best of the rest group.
However, the Paul Ricard circuit does not seem to be well suited for the McLaren chassis. Even if the Spaniard drives out of his skin, as he appears during most races, it seems unlikely that McLaren would get a strong finish in this Grand Prix.
#3 Lewis Hamilton shows pace for pole
Hamilton’s last victory came in Spain and the Briton would be itching for a race win. Mercedes showed pace during both practice sessions and they are renowned for their party modes during qualifying would give Lewis the edge over the others.
His teammate, Valtteri Bottas, has been close behind him all through Friday, but the four-time world champion would be willing to take risks and give it his all to ensure that another championship title does not slip from his hands.
It would not be an easy task to upstage Ferrari and Red Bull, but the British driver would be running a new engine during the Grand Prix de France instead of nursing an old one like last time around in Canada. The new engine might give him enough of a boost required to claim pole position.
#2 Turn six throws up a surprise
Turn six has already claimed more victims than anyone would have liked, with drivers from Kimi Räikkönen to Brendon Hartley losing the rear end of their car and going for a spin onto the blue painted area. The cars have lost grip and downforce and the wind has caused trouble for almost everyone.
The change in wind direction at the chicane that is in the middle of the long Mistral Straight is a matter of concern to a few racers during the practice sessions and it would be possible to see an upset at the turn six during qualifying.
Although, the turn also provides an opportunity to gain a few tenths if the drivers get a good use from the curbs after running flat out from the straight.
If the racers can manage to get an advantage without running all four tires off the track, it could help them during qualifying.
#1 One Red Bull on the front row
Max Verstappen may have spent most of FP1 getting a new floor and then running different aero specs for his team, but his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, showed that Red Bull have the pace this weekend. During FP2, Max was free to run quick laps and their combined speeds indicated an opportunity for them in France.
They were comfortable on the harder compounds, the soft and supersoft tires, but were not quite at ease with a set of ultrasofts.
It is often that during the practice sessions, the Milton Keynes based team outshine their opponents but come qualifying, they face an upset due to party modes. It is also true that their rivals, Ferrari and Mercedes, do not disclose their hands before the main events of the Grand Prix.
However, Ricciardo has won two races already this season and his teammate is eager to put behind bad start to the year, so they would both be looking for a strong finish to the weekend.
Who do you think will reign supreme at the French Grand Prix this weekend? Sound off in the comments section below!
