- Lap-by-lap coverage of the action at Circuit Paul Ricard
- Verstappen holds off Hamilton to take pole at French GP
- Any comments? You can email Luke | tweet @LukeMcLaughlin
1.47pm BST
Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) starts from the pit lane after a qualifying shunt led to some parts changes on the car overnight.
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
3. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
4. Sergio Pérez (Red Bull)
5 .Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
6. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)
7. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
8. Lando Norris (McLaren)
9. Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
10. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
11. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
12. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
13. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)
14. George Russell (Williams)
15. Mick Schumacher (Haas)
16. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
17. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
18. Nikita Mazepin (Haas)
19. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
20. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
1.42pm BST
It seems Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), who is fourth on the grid, managed to go off track and flat-spot one of his tyres, but the car seems to be fine, so they will get it sorted before the start.
1.41pm BST
Christian Horner, the Red Bull boss, speaks to Sky: “This is a very strong track for Mercedes … it’s going to be an exciting race … the weather could play a key role … it’s looking pretty dark where the weather is coming from, so we’re going to have to keep a close eye on that.”
1.37pm BST
Hamilton has just put a message over team radio that he thinks there may be a problem with the way the team have tweaked the ‘brake magic’ toggle after the problem he experienced in Baku, when he accidentally pressed it on the restart. Nico Rosberg, on pundit duty for Sky Sports F1, says it’s ‘very worrying’ if there is a problem there.
1.34pm BST
The weather forecast is for scattered thunderstorms in the area today. A glance at the greying sky would suggest there is plenty of rain in the air near Marseille, too, although it’s dry at the moment. Hamilton also mentioned that he likes racing in the rain …
1.31pm BST
“The ageing sentimentalist in me, as well as the BLM supporter, wants Hammy to win,” writes William Hargreaves on Twitter. “I feel a championship this time around would mean even more than the others to him – tougher opposition.”
1.29pm BST
The consummate Martin Brundle on screen now, down on the grid. “It’s a pit walk, but not a pit talk, part of the [Covid-19] protocols,” he says.
“It’s a maximum of 42 people per team, including the drivers … 20 per car … that seems enough, but there’s an awful lot of work to do.”
1.27pm BST
A little more pre-race reading for you: take a look at Giles Richards’s interview with Pierre Gasly:
The AlphaTauri driver on mental health, being dropped by Red Bull and how the death of his friend Anthoine Hubert changed him
Related: Pierre Gasly: ‘We are not lions in a cage for people going to the zoo’
1.23pm BST
“The story of the weekend has to be Verstappen v Hamilton. I’ve been asked for a prediction,” yells Ted Kravitz down at trackside, over the noise of those revving engines … “I’ve got absolutely no idea what’s going to happen.”
1.17pm BST
What are your expectations for today’s race?
You can always email me here or tweet @LukeMcLaughlin
1.14pm BST
Lewis Hamilton is asked if he’s happy to see fans in the stands: “It’s amazing to see people back … there’s a lot of energy all of a sudden now. When we didn’t have any fans, it was like a practice day almost … so it’s great to see some energy … they’re bringing the vibe this weekend … I’m excited and hope we can put on a good show today.
“It’s going to be tough to beat the Red Bulls – they are extremely quick – yesterday, it was over 3/10ths [advantage for Red Bull] on the straights … so we’ve got some work to do today.”
Bienvenue to race day!
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1.08pm BST
Max Verstappen roared to pole for the French Grand Prix leaving an expected Mercedes resurgence wobbling in his slipstream. The Red Bull driver handsomely beat Lewis Hamilton into second, with the world champion accepting that any suggestion that past successes meant his Mercedes team could take anything for granted was out of the question.
Related: Max Verstappen holds off Lewis Hamilton to take pole at French GP
1.00pm BST
Is Lewis Hamilton starting to feel the pressure this season? His rival Max Verstappen is ahead in the drivers’ title standings – by a slender margin of four points – and also ahead of Hamilton on the grid for this afternoon’s French grand prix after the Dutchman claimed a stunning pole position on Saturday.
The British world champion insisted his error at the previous grand prix in Baku was nothing to do with pressure – and it would be just like him to silence a few doubters and produce a victory for Mercedes in the south of France today to re-exert control on proceedings.