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Verstappen in the Red Bull
Photo: Charles Coates / imago images / Motorsport Images
The front runner starts from first place: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen will start the French Grand Prix (Sunday, 3 p.m., TV: Sky) from pole position.
The championship leader from the Netherlands prevailed in qualifying in Le Castellet ahead of the two Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
“It's been a very positive weekend so far on a track that is not the easiest for us,” said Verstappen after his fifth Formula 1 pole and his second of the season: “We have to finish tomorrow and get the 25 points that we lost in Baku. "
Hamilton, who had been looking for the ideal set-up in the training sessions, said: “We modified the car very often.
I'm glad it worked out so well now.
It's going to be a tough race.
But our car is different now, I have high hopes.
You always have a chance from second place on the grid. "
Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, who was still a strong runner-up two weeks ago in Baku, will start the seventh race of the season from twelfth on the grid in an Aston Martin.
“We're having a little harder time here.
The car is set up more for the race.
I think we can improve a bit, ”said Vettel.
Schumacher disappointed after Dreher
Formula 1 newcomer Mick Schumacher finished 15th. He was never better in a qualifying in the premier class.
However, the 22-year-old made a turn and retired with damage to his Haas.
“You get a cake, but you can't eat it,” said Schumacher on the Sky microphone: “It was the first Q2 for me, the first for the team in a long time.
It's a shame we couldn't drive it.
Our pace wasn't too bad.
That gives hope for a good race.
Let's keep our fingers crossed that the transmission is intact. "
Verstappen is four points ahead of Hamilton in the drivers' championship.
In the constructors' championship, the Red Bull racing team has 26 points more than Mercedes, champion of the past seven years.
ptz / sid / dpa