The 2018 French GP Thread
Moderators: cmlean, Ed, The Qualiflyer, The Heretic
The 2018 French GP Thread
This is the place to discuss everything related to the 8th round of the 2018 season taking place at the Paul Ricard circuit between the 22nd and 24th of June.
To submit your 10 'n' Pole Picks for France click here, to register in the competition click here
Picks for France close at the start of Saturday practice.
The event timetable for the French Grand Prix.
Friday
1st Practice 12:00 local time - 10:00 GMT
2nd Practice 16:00 local time - 14:00 GMT
Saturday
Practice 13:00 local time - 11:00 GMT
Qualifying 16:00 local time - 14:00 GMT
Sunday
Race 16:00 local time - 14:00 GMT
To submit your 10 'n' Pole Picks for France click here, to register in the competition click here
Picks for France close at the start of Saturday practice.
The event timetable for the French Grand Prix.
Friday
1st Practice 12:00 local time - 10:00 GMT
2nd Practice 16:00 local time - 14:00 GMT
Saturday
Practice 13:00 local time - 11:00 GMT
Qualifying 16:00 local time - 14:00 GMT
Sunday
Race 16:00 local time - 14:00 GMT
Re: The 2018 French GP Thread
This weekend sees the return of the French Grand Prix after an absence of 10 years and the return to the Paul Ricard circuit for the first time since 1990.
Many drivers may have driven at Paul Ricard in their early years but this will be a new experience for all in their respective machines.
So, what to expect?
Mercedes should turn up with their new power units. They were complaining of the lack of power in Canada after being forced to run their existing units due to possible reliability issues with the next evolution.
Ferrari had their update in Canada so theirs will be mainly aero updates.
Red Bull also had their power unit updates. Ricciardo managed to recover his MGU-K for the Canada race. Will it still be usable in France? Time will tell.
The Renaults and McLarens also had their engine updates in Canada.
Force India and Williams should also all have their power unit updates so we will see what effect it will have.
Haas and Sauber have both been on the improve.
Toro Rosso are also on the improve with the Honda power unit steadily putting out more power combined with reliability.
So, my thoughts on the race.
It will again be a race between the two Mercedes and one Ferrari. I'm still not convinced that Kimi really has his heart in it.
Max again will be somewhere near the pointy end. Daniel will change his MGU-K and take the grid penalty associated with it.
Kimi will finish around 5th.
Probably a couple of factory Renaults, the other Red Bull, a Force India and a Sauber to round out the 10.
Many drivers may have driven at Paul Ricard in their early years but this will be a new experience for all in their respective machines.
So, what to expect?
Mercedes should turn up with their new power units. They were complaining of the lack of power in Canada after being forced to run their existing units due to possible reliability issues with the next evolution.
Ferrari had their update in Canada so theirs will be mainly aero updates.
Red Bull also had their power unit updates. Ricciardo managed to recover his MGU-K for the Canada race. Will it still be usable in France? Time will tell.
The Renaults and McLarens also had their engine updates in Canada.
Force India and Williams should also all have their power unit updates so we will see what effect it will have.
Haas and Sauber have both been on the improve.
Toro Rosso are also on the improve with the Honda power unit steadily putting out more power combined with reliability.
So, my thoughts on the race.
It will again be a race between the two Mercedes and one Ferrari. I'm still not convinced that Kimi really has his heart in it.
Max again will be somewhere near the pointy end. Daniel will change his MGU-K and take the grid penalty associated with it.
Kimi will finish around 5th.
Probably a couple of factory Renaults, the other Red Bull, a Force India and a Sauber to round out the 10.
Re: The 2018 French GP Thread
FP1 Results
A few spins throughout the session, mainly around the turn 5/6 area. Ericsson then lost the rear of his Sauber in turn 11 and stuffed into the barrier bringing out the red flags and a premature end to the the session. Fire also did some serious damage to the engine cowling. His crew have a lot of work to do to get this chassis out for FP2.
Code: Select all
Pos Time Driver Team
1 1:32.231 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
2 1:32.371 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes
3 1:32.527 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing
4 1:33.003 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari
5 1:33.172 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari
6 1:33.318 Romain Grosjean Haas
7 1:33.331 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing
8 1:33.685 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso
9 1:33.719 Sergio Perez Force India
10 1:34.108 Kevin Magnussen Haas
11 1:34.258 Carlos Sainz Renault
12 1:34.484 Esteban Ocon Force India
13 1:34.513 Charles Leclerc Sauber
14 1:34.592 Marcus Ericsson Sauber
15 1:34.664 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso
16 1:34.862 Fernando Alonso McLaren
17 1:34.881 Lance Stroll Williams
18 1:34.993 Nico Hulkenberg Renault
19 1:35.021 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren
20 1:35.105 Sergey Sirotkin Williams
Re: The 2018 French GP Thread
FP2 Results
The damage to Ericsson's Sauber proved impossible to repair for this session. It looks like a new power unit, gearbox and possibly a new chassis are required.
Perez lost his left rear wheel coming onto the back straight bringing out a red flag for the second time today.
The Bottas Mercedes had a water leak mid session which forced an end to his FP2 program.
Code: Select all
Pos Time Driver Team
1 1:32.539 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
2 1:33.243 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing
3 1:33.271 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing
4 1:33.426 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari
5 1:33.689 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari
6 1:33.699 Romain Grosjean Haas
7 1:34.156 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes
8 1:34.400 Fernando Alonso McLaren
9 1:34.457 Kevin Magnussen Haas
10 1:34.535 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso
11 1:35.067 Nico Hulkenberg Renault
12 1:35.086 Carlos Sainz Renault
13 1:35.172 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren
14 1:35.583 Charles Leclerc Sauber
15 1:35.697 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso
16 1:35.705 Esteban Ocon Force India
17 1:35.936 Lance Stroll Williams
18 1:35.970 Sergey Sirotkin Williams
19 1:36.080 Sergio Perez Force India
Perez lost his left rear wheel coming onto the back straight bringing out a red flag for the second time today.
The Bottas Mercedes had a water leak mid session which forced an end to his FP2 program.
Re: The 2018 French GP Thread
FP3 Results
Most teams did a couple of laps and then the heavens opened.
Code: Select all
Pos Time Driver Team
1 1:33.666 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes
2 1:34.953 Carlos Sainz Renault
3 1:35.012 Charles Leclerc Sauber
4 1:36.365 Fernando Alonso McLaren
5 1:36.756 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari
6 1:37.547 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren
7 1:38.317 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso
8 1:38.450 Marcus Ericsson Sauber
9 1:39.641 Sergio Perez Force India
10 1:39.738 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing
11 1:40.087 Esteban Ocon Force India
12 1:40.743 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
13 1:49.711 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari
14 2:02.399 Lance Stroll Williams
15 2:04.093 Sergey Sirotkin Williams
16 No Time Kevin Magnussen Haas
17 No Time Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso
18 No Time Romain Grosjean Haas
19 No Time Nico Hulkenberg Renault
20 No Time Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing
Re: The 2018 French GP Thread
Qualifying
Romain Grosjean eased his Haas into the fence around turn 3 bringing out the red flags in Q3.
Brendon Hartley to start at the rear of grid after penalties for multiple power unit component replacements.
Code: Select all
Pos Time Driver Team
1 1:30.029 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
2 1:30.147 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes
3 1:30.400 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari
4 1:30.705 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing
5 1:30.895 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing
6 1:31.057 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari
7 1:32.126 Carlos Sainz Renault
8 1:32.635 Charles Leclerc Sauber
9 1:32.930 Kevin Magnussen Haas
10 No Time Romain Grosjean Haas
_________________________________________________________
11 1:32.075 Esteban Ocon Force India
12 1:32.115 Nico Hulkenberg Renault
13 1:32.454 Sergio Perez Force India
14 1:32.460 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso
15 1:32.820 Marcus Ericsson Sauber
16 1:32.976 Fernando Alonso McLaren
__________________________________________________________
17 1:33.025 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso
18 1:33.162 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren
19 1:33.636 Sergey Sirotkin Williams
20 1:33.729 Lance Stroll Williams
Brendon Hartley to start at the rear of grid after penalties for multiple power unit component replacements.
Re: The 2018 French GP Thread
Results
Code: Select all
Pos Driver Team
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing
3 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari
4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing
5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari
6 Kevin Magnussen Haas
7 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes
8 Carlos Sainz Renault
9 Nico Hulkenberg Renault
10 Charles Leclerc Sauber
11 Romain Grosjean Haas
12 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren
13 Marcus Ericsson Sauber
14 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso
15 Sergey Sirotkin Williams
16 Fernando Alonso McLaren
DNF Lance Stroll Williams
DNF Sergio Perez Force India
DNF Esteban Ocon Force India
DNF Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso
Re: The 2018 French GP Thread
Well, that was some race.
With the first corner carnage that commenced with Vettel taking out Bottas and then Gasly taking out Ocon in turn 3, the race was turned on its head.
This then created interest with both Vettel and Bottas coming back through the field at the conclusion of the safety car period. The chicane in the back straight proved the most used passing zone with many utilizing the DRS before hitting the braking markers to complete their passes.
Hamilton controlled the race from the front with Verstappen staying within 5 seconds or so. Raikkonen drove an excellent final stint to take the final podium position from Ricciardo who was suffering with a damaged front wing from debris.
Vettel drove magnificently to, at one stage, be in 4th position before ultimately his tyres said enough and another pit stop was required.
Carlos Sainz was unlucky with power issues late in the race which dropped him down a couple of positions.
The next event is in Austria next weekend as the second of 3 events in successive weekends culminating with the British Grand Prix.
With the first corner carnage that commenced with Vettel taking out Bottas and then Gasly taking out Ocon in turn 3, the race was turned on its head.
This then created interest with both Vettel and Bottas coming back through the field at the conclusion of the safety car period. The chicane in the back straight proved the most used passing zone with many utilizing the DRS before hitting the braking markers to complete their passes.
Hamilton controlled the race from the front with Verstappen staying within 5 seconds or so. Raikkonen drove an excellent final stint to take the final podium position from Ricciardo who was suffering with a damaged front wing from debris.
Vettel drove magnificently to, at one stage, be in 4th position before ultimately his tyres said enough and another pit stop was required.
Carlos Sainz was unlucky with power issues late in the race which dropped him down a couple of positions.
The next event is in Austria next weekend as the second of 3 events in successive weekends culminating with the British Grand Prix.