Lewis Hamilton timed his best lap to perfection on Saturday when he took pole position ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas with a blistering late effort at the French Grand Prix.
The five-time world champion, who had struggled to match the Finn’s pace in the previous two practice sessions, reeled off the fastest lap in one minute 28.319 seconds. Hamilton was 0.286s quicker than Bottas.
It was Hamilton’s 86th career pole and a record-increasing 63rd front-row lock-out for Mercedes. Hamilton has taken 60 of his poles with Mercedes.
It was a master-class from the dominant Silver Arrows team while its rivals laboured in pursuit, with Monegasque Charles Leclerc taking third for Ferrari ahead of Max Verstappen, fourth for Red Bull.
Vettel in seventh
British rookie Lando Norris impressed with a fine effort to take fifth ahead of resurgent McLaren teammate Carlos Sainz and, surprisingly, a despondent Sebastian Vettel down in seventh in the second Ferrari after a gearbox issue during Q3.
Daniel Ricciardo was eighth for Renault ahead of Frenchman Pierre Gasly in the second Red Bull and Antonio Giovinazzi of Alfa Romeo.
“It’s not an easy track,” said Hamilton. “It’s very technical and Valtteri has been very quick all weekend. I’ve been chipping away and the last two laps were the ones.”
Bottas said: “I think Lewis had a really good lap. It’s between super-close between us all weekend and it’s about fine details.”
A happy Leclerc said: “At the end, I am pretty happy with my lap and unfortunately it wasn’t enough! A good start will be very important tomorrow.”
The starting grid:
First row: Hamilton (Mercedes); Bottas (Mercedes).
Second row: Leclerc (Ferrari); Verstappen (Red Bull).
Third row: Norris (McLaren); Sainz Jr. (McLaren).
Fourth row: Vettel (Ferrari); Ricciardo (Renault).
Fifth row: Gasly (Red Bull); Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo Racing).
Sixth row: Albon (Toro Rosso); Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo Racing).
Seventh row: Hulkenberg (Renault); Perez (Racing Point).
Eighth row: Magnussen (Haasi); Grosjean (Haas).
Ninth row: Stroll (Racing Point); Russell (Williams).
10th row: Kubica (Williams); Kvyat (Toro Rosso).