After a week without Formula 1, the fastest single-seaters in the world returned to action with the first free practice sessions of the 2022 French Grand Prix, a 60-minute session that was really interesting for several teams that had opted for this event to introduce a new package of improvements.
At the end of FP1 and with the sun as the main protagonist, as it will be for the rest of the weekend, Charles Leclerc led the time table with a time of 1:33.930 , ahead of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, who will penalize on the grid on Sunday after changing some elements of its power unit.
George Russell managed to place his Mercedes in fourth position, although far from the top three drivers, specifically 0.951 seconds ahead of Pierre Gasly and Sergio Pérez who was less competitive than expected.
Lando Norris, in a facelifted McLaren, finished seventh, with Alexander Albon surprising everyone by slipping into eighth behind the wheel of a Williams that also appears to be making strides forward as the season progresses.
Nyck De Vries, who replaced Lewis Hamilton in Free Practice 1, and Daniel Ricciardo, completed the top ten positions in Free Practice 1, leaving out against all odds the two Alpine cars, who encountered more problems than expected. Fernando Alonso finished 15th, two places behind his teammate.
FP1 results, free practice 1 of the French GP 2022 of F1
Click on “VIEW RESULTS” to see the full time table
| Cla | Pilot | laps | Weather | Difference | Interval | Km/h | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Charles Leclerc |
 |
23 | 1’33.930 | 223.902 | ||
| 2 |  Max Verstappen |
 |
19 | 1’34.021 | 0.091 | 0.091 | 223.686 |
| 3 |  Carlos Sainz Jr. |
 |
twenty-one | 1’34,268 | 0.338 | 0.247 | 223,100 |
| 4 |  George Russell |
 |
25 | 1’34.881 | 0.951 | 0.613 | 221.658 |
| 5 |  Pierre Gasly |
 |
21 | 1’34,979 | 1,049 | 0.098 | 221,430 |
| 6 |  Sergio Perez |
 |
twenty-one | 1’35,174 | 1,244 | 0.195 | 220,976 |
| 7 | Lando Norris |
 |
21 | 1’35.232 | 1.302 | 0.058 | 220.841 |
| 8 |  Alexander Albon |
 |
24 | 1’35.414 | 1.484 | 0.182 | 220.420 |
| 9 | Nyck de Vries |
 |
23 | 1’35,426 | 1,496 | 0.012 | 220,392 |
| 10 |  Daniel Ricciardo |
 |
21 | 1’35.660 | 1.730 | 0.234 | 219.853 |
| see results | |||||||
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: LAT Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Summary of Free Practice 1 of the French GP 2022 F1 in Paul Ricard
Due to the “testing” nature of the French track, several teams opted for this French Grand Prix to introduce some update packages to their cars.
From the first moment of Free Practice 1, almost all the drivers went out on the track to check that everything was working correctly in their cars, in fact all 20 completed at least one lap before discounting the first 10 minutes.
As soon as the time table began to fill up with times, Max Verstappen took the lead in FP1 with a time of 1:35.727, which one lap later would drop to 1:34.991. Meanwhile, the rest of the pilots remained more than a second behind.
Unlike other weekends, the variety of tires was total, with the presence of both the soft, the medium and the hard on the Paul Ricard track.
Pierre Gasly was the first to set off the alarms by reporting problems in his power unit that forced him to return to the pits, although in a matter of minutes he was able to return to asphalt, a good sign for the French driver and AlphaTauri.
A few moments later, Sergio Pérez suffered a spin that caused him to lose control of his Red Bull RB18, although fortunately for him, he was able to brake along the huge loopholes of the French circuit, thus avoiding the impact with the protections.
Completed the halfway point of Free Practice 1, Carlos Sainz ascended to the first position with a time of 1:34.268, ahead of Verstappen by only 0.078 seconds, followed by the two Mercedes, George Russell and Nyck De Vries , who replaced Lewis Hamilton in this FP1.
The Dutch Red Bull driver also complained of a problem with the gearbox that was taking longer than usual to go up and down the gears, although it did not seem to be very serious, since he improved his time and placed first with a 1 :34.021.
Behind and while the session was going normally, the Ferraris completed the first three positions, ahead of Gasly, Russell, and Pérez.
As the clock ticked down, some drivers began to improve their times and Charles Leclerc climbed to the top of the timesheets for the first time in this FP1 with a time of 1:33.930, thus becoming the first driver to drop off the 1:34.
In the Alpine box the situation did not seem to be very promising with 10 minutes remaining in Free Practice 1, with Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon outside the top 10. Finally, the French driver finished 13th and the Spanish 15th, behind the Aston Martin and Haas.
At the back of the leaderboard, Nicholas Latifi, who already has the improvements of Alex Albon at his disposal, failed to make the leap forward that his teammate did and closed the time table more than three seconds behind Leclerc and more 1.5 seconds from Albon.
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