French Grand Prix 2022: Carlos Sainz quickest in FP2 on bittersweet day for Ferrari star

Dom Farrell

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French Grand Prix 2022: Carlos Sainz quickest in FP2 on bittersweet day for Ferrari star image

Carlos Sainz clocked the fastest time in FP2 at the French Grand Prix but it might yet be the highlight of his weekend at Circuit Paul Ricard.

Ferrari retained their recent edge over Red Bull and Max Verstappen, with Charles Leclerc completing a one-two alongside Sainz ahead of the reigning world champion.

However, Sainz will have to swallow a 10-place grid penalty in Sunday’s race after having new control electronics installed.

On the track, the Ferraris looked impressive, particularly when switching down to soft tyres, and Verstappen was 0.5 seconds shy of their efforts.

It was even more of a struggle for teammate Sergio Perez, who concluded the session down in 10th. Red Bull chief Christian Horner suggested that was partly as a result of Perez being on a different race strategy to Verstappen but the driver cut a disgruntled future when he spoke to Sky Sports. 

“I’m not very comfortable with the car. There is some good work and understanding to be done overnight for tomorrow and the race,” he said. “Hopefully tomorrow we are able to pull it all together and be in the fight.”

The improving Mercedes team will certainly expect to be in the conversation, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton clocking the fourth and fifth fastest times.

Hamilton did not take part in the first session as he opted to give reserve driver Nyck de Vries a runout. 

A new rule for the 2022 season stipulates each team must run a rookie driver in two practice sessions across the year to give race weekend experience to the next generation.

Whether the 27-year-old De Vries fits the latter description is up for debate and he came in ninth in FP1, where Leclerc led the timesheets ahead of Verstappen and Sainz.

French Grand Prix 2022: FP1 top 10

Position Driver Car Time
1 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:32:527
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.101s
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.550s
4 George Russell Mercedes +0.764s
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.990s
6 Lando Norris McLaren +1.080s
7 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri +1.379s
8 Kevin Magnussen Haas +1.401s
9 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren +1.457s
10 Sergio Perez Red Bull +1.533s

French Grand Prix 2022: Weekend schedule

Saturday, July 23

Event Start time (BST) Start time (ET)
Third practice session 12 p.m. 7 a.m.
Qualifying session 3 p.m. 10 a.m.

MORE: From Lewis Hamilton to Michael Schumacher - which football clubs do Formula One drivers support?

Sunday, July 24

Event Start time (BST) Start time (ET)
Grand Prix 2 p.m. 9 a.m.

Dom Farrell

Dom Farrell Photo

Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.