Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday's French GP on pole position after claiming the 75th pole of his F1 career at the Paul Ricard circuit. Hamilton, one tenth quicker than team-mate Valtteri Bottas in a breathless conclusion to a session interrupted by a heavy crash for Haas' Romain Grosjean, will head an all-Mercedes front row for the race - exclusively live on Sky F1 and underway at 3.10pm. "We have all pulled together and done a great job in putting the car where we need it, for both Valtteri and I," said Hamilton. "It's something we have been working on for so long. And the pressure is...you can see how close it is between us all. It's really, really great to have this result." Hamilton relieved but puzzled with pole position McLaren suffer worst result of 2018 Boosted by the new '2.1' spec engine Mercedes have introduced this weekend, the Silver Arrows were untouchable in qualifying. After a scruffy Q3 lap, Sebastian Vettel was nearly four tenths adrift of Hamilton's 1:30.029 benchmark while the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were over half a second behind. Vettel currently leads the world championship by a single point from Hamilton. "I tried to push everything in the last attempt, but looking back, I pushed too hard," accepted the Ferrari driver. "In the end with P3 I'm happy because the car should be good in the race." But in a disastrous session for the under-pressure McLaren team, Stoffel Vandoorne and Fernando Alonso were eliminated at the first hurdle - the team's worst result in a season on the cusp of turning ugly. Powered by the same engines, the McLarens were almost 1.5 seconds slower than the Red Bulls. Alonso, who was celebrating winning Le Mans just a week ago, described the result as "very disappointing". The Spaniard added: "This is where we are. Nothing went wrong, the performance is what it is." Leclerc puts more pressure on struggling Raikkonen In an intriguing twist for Sunday's race, Hamilton along with Bottas and the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo will start the grand prix on supersoft tyres. The Ferraris of Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, however, will get underway on the faster but brittle ultrasofts. "I'm not really sure why they have gone with that tyre," Hamilton said. "They must be confident. Either they know something we don't or they have made a mistake." While it remains to be seen to what extent the results of qualifying dictate the outcome of Sunday's race, it was day which could also have significant reverberations in the transfer market. The increasingly-impressive Charles Leclerc propelled his Sauber into the top 10 with eighth - the team's best result in four years - to send talk of a 2019 promotion to Ferrari at the expense of Kimi Raikkonen into overdrive. Raikkonen himself did little to dampen the speculation on track, lapping over a second shy of Hamilton and in excess of half a second behind Vettel. The Finn shrugged off the setback but will surely need a rapid improvement in performance if he is to persuade Ferrari to look beyond the Leclerc's claims for a full race seat next year. Hamilton delivers when it matters Hamilton had topped both of Friday's practice sessions and has looked dialled-in to the Paul Ricard circuit throughout on F1's long-awaited return to France. The world champion was fastest again at the start of Q3 but was then overtaken by Bottas when the shoot-out resumed following a red-flag stoppage for Grosjean's crash into the barriers. But Hamilton made no mistake on his final run, crossing the line a tenth of a second quicker than Bottas to clinch a deserved pole. Verstappen, running 'skinny' on downforce, could also be one to watch in Sunday's race with his car set up for overtaking opportunities. Grosjean was unhurt in the crash and will line up tenth on Sunday, seeking his first points of 2018 in F1's first race on French soil since 2008. French GP Qualifying result Driver Team 1) Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 2) Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 3) Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 4) Max Verstappen Red Bull 5) Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 6) Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 7) Carlos Sainz Renault 8) Charles Leclerc Sauber 9) Kevin Magnussen Haas 10) Romain Grosjean Haas Out in Q2 11) Esteban Ocon Force India 12) Nico Hulkenberg Renault 13) Sergio Perez Force India 14) Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 15) Marcus Ericsson Sauber Out in Q1 16) Fernando Alonso McLaren 17) Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 18) Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 19) Sergey Sirotkin Williams 20) Lance Stroll Williams Get Sky Sports F1.<doc-sep>Lewis Hamilton put his Mercedes on pole position for the French Grand Prix as the crisis at his old team McLaren took another miserable twist. Hamilton stormed to the 75th pole of his career on Formula One's first visit to France in a decade with a dominant display at the Paul Ricard Circuit. The British driver saw off his team-mate Valtteri Bottas by more than one tenth of a second, while Sebastian Vettel, whom he trails by a single championship point, finished third, four tenths back. But Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne qualified only 16th and 18th of the 20 runners on another humiliating day for the failing McLaren team. Eric Boullier, McLaren's racing director, insists he will not resign, but the decision could soon be taken out of his hands following another abject display from the team he has presided over since 2014.<doc-sep>Valtteri Bottas posted the fastest time in a heavily-compromised final practice session at the French GP as a torrential downpour wreaked havoc at Paul Ricard. With heavy rain commencing minutes into Practice Three, only 15 drivers posted timed laps while even fewer completed their fliers on a dry track. Of those who did, Bottas was quickest with a 1:33.666 for Mercedes, followed by Renault's Carlos Sainz and Sauber's Charles Leclerc in an unlikely top three. But while the rain was an unwelcome sight in the pit-lane - only four teams sent out cars in the showers - the wet weather offers a tantalising prospect of an unpredictable qualifying. "The forecast is that this wet weather may stick around for a little bit longer," said Sky F1 commentator David Croft. "And if it stays, you will not want to miss qualifying. It could be a very intriguing session indeed..." In fact, there is a threat of storms throughout the weekend with the forecast also changeable for race day. Verstappen believes in Honda The F1 Transfer Gossip Most drivers stayed in the pits once the rain started but Fernando Alonso, fresh from his Le Mans 24 Hours victory, was first to venture out for an installation lap for McLaren before both Toro Rossos and Leclerc followed. Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin posted lap times for Williams and their wet tyre-efforts were half a second down on Bottas' benchmark, a sign of the conditions. Championship rivals Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton were out of position in fifth and 12th, with the latter, who topped both of Friday's practice sessions, tentative on a slippery track. Red Bull were also quiet, though team boss Christian Horner was hopeful that the rain would stay for qualifying to give Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen a better chance of pole position. French GP Practice Three Timesheet Driver Team Time Laps completed Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:33.666 3 Carlos Sainz Renault +1.287 3 Charles Leclerc Sauber +1.346 5 Fernando Alonso McLaren +2.699 4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari +3.090 5 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren +3.881 4 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso +4.651 5 Marcus Ericsson Sauber +4.784 3 Sergio Perez Force India +5.975 4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull +6.072 3 Esteban Ocon Force India +6.421 4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +7.077 3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +16.045 3 Lance Stroll Williams +28.733 4 Sergey Sirotkin Williams +30.427 5 Kevin Magnussen Haas No time set 1 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso No time set 3 Romain Grosjean Haas No time set 1 Nico Hulkenberg Renault No time set 2 Max Verstappen Red Bull No time set 3 Get Sky Sports F1.<doc-sep>Lewis Hamilton has taken pole position for the French Grand Prix FREE now and never miss the top F1 stories again SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up fornow and never miss the top F1 stories again When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. For a moment Bottas, with his last lap in the third round of qualifying, had set the fastest time before Hamilton went quicker by a tenth of a second. The 28-year-old Finnish driver conceded that his final qualifying lap was not perfect and with Hamilton still out on track “you can never be sure”, he said. When asked if he thought he had done enough to secure pole, Bottas said: “I wasn’t quite sure, you know. When you know Lewis has still to finish his lap you can never be sure.” “Lewis did again a great job in the qualifying.” Lewis Hamilton has secured his 75th pole position of his career When you know Lewis has still to finish his lap you can never be sure Valtteri Bottas - Mercedes Bottas felt that he was playing catch up with his Mercedes team mate after missing parts of the the second round of free practice and not running at all in the third round of free practice. “It was not a bad lap, but not perfect either,” he said. “I’ve been struggling to get perfect laps this weekend and missed pretty much all of FP2 and we didn’t do any running in FP3, so I was kind of catching up run by run.” Hamilton was ecstatic to be racing back in France as he secured his 75th pole position of his career. Lewis Hamilton salary and F1 2018 earnings – who is the best-paid driver? Sat, July 21, 2018 How much does Lewis Hamilton make and which F1 2018 driver is paid the most, according to www.tsmsportz.com? Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 21 Which 2018 F1 driver earns the biggest salary? “It was a good qualifying session. I think the team have done a great job throughout the weekend,” said Hamilton. “I think we have all pulled together and done a great job in putting the car where we need it, for both Valtteri and I. “It could always be better. But really, really happy to have the pole. "Qualifying is always tough, but it feels great to be back in France. It is such a brilliant place. "I am really excited to come to the first grand prix at Paul Ricard for a long time and to be on the front row is a great showing for the team." Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel could only manage third place on the grid, behind his Mercedes rivals. Valtteri Bottas felt that he was playing catch up with Hamilton after FP2 and FP3 Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel could only manage third on the grid<doc-sep>
RED Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo qualified fifth fastest for Formula One’s French Grand Prix, behind pole sitter Lewis Hamilton and his own teammate Max Verstappen. Hamilton produced a 1 minute 30.029 seconds lap and secured a record-extending 75th pole position to start alongside Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas on the grid for Sunday’s race. Championship leader Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari will start the race from third, followed by Red Bull pair Verstappen and Ricciardo. Charles Leclerc, 20, continued his impressive debut season by making the final shoot-out for the first time. He will start his Sauber in eighth There was more gloom at McLaren, with last weekend’s Le Mans 24 Hours winner and double world champion Fernando Alonso managing only the 16th best time. His Belgian team mate Stoffel Vandoorne was 18th. F1 is returning to France for the first time in a decade and the Paul Ricard track is hosting its first elite race since 1990. “It feels great to be back in France. It’s such a beautiful place. I got a great response from the crowd and I’m delighted to be here for the first time,” Hamilton, who called his run “impeccable”, said. “We have all pulled together and done a great job in putting the car where we need it, for both Valtteri and I. “You can see how close it is between us all. It’s really, really great to have this result, and a one-two.” Defending champion Hamilton, who also topped both practice sessions on Friday, and teammate Bottas benefited from an engine upgrade that Mercedes had failed to roll out in the last round when Hamilton lost the lead to Vettel. Hamilton trails Vettel, 121, by one point at the top of the standings heading into the race at the Paul Ricard Circuit. Bottas is third on 86, with Ricciardo fourth on 84 and Kimi Raikkonen fifth as the battle for supremacy among the drivers hits fever pitch. It was the third pole of the season for the 33-year-old Hamilton. FRENCH GP QUALIFYING RESULT Driver — Team 1) Lewis Hamilton — Mercedes 2) Valtteri Bottas — Mercedes 3) Sebastian Vettel — Ferrari 4) Max Verstappen — Red Bull 5) Daniel Ricciardo — Red Bull 6) Kimi Raikkonen — Ferrari 7) Carlos Sainz — Renault 8) Charles Leclerc — Sauber 9) Kevin Magnussen — Haas 10) Romain Grosjean — Haas Out in Q2 11) Esteban Ocon — Force India 12) Nico Hulkenberg — Renault 13) Sergio Perez — Force India 14) Pierre Gasly — Toro Rosso 15) Marcus Ericsson — Sauber Out in Q1 16) Fernando Alonso — McLaren 17) Brendon Hartley — Toro Rosso 18) Stoffel Vandoorne — McLaren 19) Sergey Sirotkin — Williams 20) Lance Stroll — Williams