Ferrari managed to reignite their title challenge last time out in the hills of Spielberg where Leclerc dominated the Sunday race day. Going into the 2022 French Grand Prix, only 38 points separates the Monegasque from title defender Max Verstappen. Here is what to expect in the South East of France.
Important times to look out for:
Practice 1 (22 July) – 14:00 – 15:00
Practice 2 (22 July) – 17:00 – 18:00
Practice 3 (23 July) – 13:00 – 14:00
Qualifying (23 July) – 16:00 – 17:00
Race (24 July) – 15:00 – 17:00
The Circuit Paul Ricard will host the 2022 French Grand Prix once again, which saw Max Verstappen hunt Lewis Hamilton down in the closing stages of the race to take victory last season. Located in the small commune of Le Castellet, a small region brimmed with vineyards, the drivers will once again navigate 53 laps of the 5,842 km circuit with iconic blue murals on the runoff areas.
Despite winning both previous Grand Prix outings, the Scuderia have had some serious concerns with reliability after Carlos Sainz suffered a catastrophic engine failure which had the Spaniard scramble to exit the burning wreck as it was spectacularly rolling back onto the Red Bull Ring before a marshall wedged a chock under the wheel.
Leclerc currently has two working engines in his arsenal numbering three and four but Sainz will expectedly take a new engine at the 2022 French Grand Prix and with it, an engine penalty that will relegate him to the back of the grid come race day.
Despite a points gap of only 38 to Leclerc, Max Verstappen looks fairly comfortable. The same can be said for the Mercedes duo of Russell and Hamilton who have enjoyed good reliability and consistent performance this season. Further down the grid, the mid-field battle has unexpectedly been hotting up with both fourth and fifth placed McLaren and Alpine tied on points. Both other Ferrari powered teams being Alfa Romeo and Haas have also enjoyed moderate success with the latter achieving a double points haul in the past two races with Mick Schumacher achieving a career best of P6 in Austria.
All eyes will be at the front of the grid though as it will be all to play for at Ferrari this weekend as they continue to chip away at Red Bull’s advantage. No abnormal weather will be expected at the 2022 French Grand Prix with temperature highs above 30°C throughout the weekend and a little-to-no chance of rain.
