Leclerc tops Verstappen in practice for French GP

LE CASTELLET: Charles Leclerc topped the times for Ferrari ahead of world champion and series leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull in Friday´s opening free practice for this weekend´s French Grand Prix.

The 24-year-old Monegasque, who is seeking to complete a Ferrari hat-trick on Sunday, clocked a best lap in one minute and 33.930 seconds to outpace the series leader by less than a tenth of a second.

Leclerc´s Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz, who has been given a 10-place grid penalty for the race after taking new power-train components, was third ahead of Mercedes´ George Russell, Pierre Gasly of Alpha Tauri and Sergio Perez, in the second Red Bull.

Lando Norris was seventh for McLaren ahead of Alex Albon of Williams, Nyck de Vries who was replacing seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes, and Daniel Ricciardo in the second McLaren.

On a hot day in the south of France, the session began with an air temperature of 31 degrees at the Paul Ricard circuit, Sainz setting an early marker lap that was quickly beaten by Verstappen in 1:35.727.

De Vries, in Hamilton´s Mercedes clocked an early 1:39.583 to find his way ahead of four other cars, but it was Verstappen, showing immediate pace, who extended his early advantage after 12 minutes in 1:34.991 as Leclerc dropped into second.

The Monegasque, in relaxed mood following his victory in Austria, complained his throttle felt ´inconsistent´ before Perez spun at Turn Four in the second Red Bull and Verstappen trimmed his time again.