Monegasque Charles Leclerc driving for Ferrari dominated the opening practice sessions of the French Grand Prix at the Paul Ricard circuit in Le Castellet. Leclerc, who has already won twice in Austria on back-to-back Sundays, led the field in Friday practice as the session unfolded on a track that quickly warmed and offered a clear view of the weekend shape. Behind him, Carlos Sainz for Ferrari and Fernando Alonso for Alpine showed competitive pace, securing top ten positions and signaling that the fight for pole and race pace could be tightly contested here in France. The day gave teams a baseline to assess setup options, fuel strategies, and tire behavior ahead of qualifications and the race on Sunday.
In a best of 23 laps and with the 5,842 meter layout of the Circuit Paul Ricard, Leclerc clocked a lap of one minute, 33 seconds and 390 milliseconds. That time stood as the benchmark, with Dutchman Max Verstappen, the current World Cup leader, finishing just over a tenth of a second behind the Ferrari in second place. Verstappen carried a 208 point advantage in the standings, with a comfortable gap to the rest of the field, which is a familiar narrative as teams push to match Red Bull’s consistency. Leclerc’s early pace echoed his recent performances and maintained momentum from his confirmed strong form heading into the race weekend.
Sainz, who finished fourth in the practice session, completed 20 laps and remained within striking distance of Leclerc. He ended the session just three tenths of a second behind his teammate, highlighting Ferrari’s potential to fight for podium positions once more in France. The surface temperature and ambient conditions peaked around 29 degrees Celsius and asphalt temperatures climbed toward 59 degrees Celsius, with teams deploying soft compound tires to extract maximum grip and evaluate tire wear across longer stints. The teams aimed to push the envelope on setup, balance, and traction as they looked to optimize both qualifying performance and race pace.
Meanwhile, speculation swirled about the engine control unit updates for Ferraris, which could influence penalties and start positions. Reports indicated a potential grid penalty for further changes, threatening to drop a driver down the order. Ferrari officials did not issue a formal statement on the matter during the Friday sessions, but the momentum suggested a focus on reliability alongside speed as the weekend progressed. The narrowing of the points gap in early season context remained a talking point, with teams watching how penalties and regulatory updates might shape the race weekend.
In the broader championship context, Sergio Perez from Red Bull, who sits third in the standings, worked through his program and completed a similar number of laps as his rivals. Perez finished the session within striking distance of the leaders, trailing by about a second and a quarter behind Verstappen in the faster runs. The Mexican driver, renowned for his resilience, was part of a session that featured minimal incidents and offered a clear view of the level of competition facing Red Bull as it sought to maintain its championship momentum.
Alonso celebrated another strong showing, advancing his position within the top group and maintaining a pace that kept him close to the front-runners. The two-time world champion demonstrated his long-standing ability to extract speed and consistency, as the session measured sector times and split intervals that suggested a competitive balance across the field. The Spanish driver’s performance reinforced Alpine’s hope of challenging for consistent points and potential podiums as the year progresses.
Nyck de Vries, taking part in the opening practice for the British outfit, ran with Mercedes machinery under the watchful eye of the engineers. De Vries completed a solid run, finishing a little over one and a half seconds behind Verstappen, signaling a strong baseline from which to improve ahead of qualifying.
Polish driver Robert Kubica also joined the first free practice session in the Alfa Romeo, stepping in for the regular lineup and providing valuable feedback during the early stages of the weekend. Kubica’s run put him on the board for the session, finishing a couple of seconds behind the World Cup leader as the teams gathered data and prepared for more aggressive runs in the following sessions.