Formula One championship Max Verstappen takes pole in French GP

Verstappen set a time of 1 minute, 29.990 seconds around the Paul Ricard circuit in southern France to grab the top starting spot before Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas crossed the line at the end of Saturday’s qualifying session.

Le Castellet: Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen won his second pole of the season and put his Red Bull in front of Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton for the start the French Grand Prix.

Verstappen set a time of 1 minute, 29.990 seconds around the Paul Ricard circuit in southern France to grab the top starting spot before Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas crossed the line at the end of Saturday’s qualifying session.

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Bottas jumped to second when he crossed the line, but Hamilton completed his lap right behind Bottas and bumped his teammate down a spot.

Sergio Perez was fourth for Red Bull as the top four qualifiers all ran at the rear of the pack before completing their final flying laps as the session expired.

Carlos Sainz was fifth for Ferrari and followed by Pierre Gasly for AlphaTauri and Charles Leclerc in seventh for Ferrari. McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo were eighth and 10th, respectively, separated by Fernando Alonso in ninth for Alpine.