On Track

Sebastian to start 12th for the French Grand Prix

Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team's Sebastian Vettel will start the 2021 French Grand Prix from 12th on the grid.

Lance will start the race in 19th after a disrupted Q1 that featured two red flags and disrupted both of his flying lap attempts.

Saturday at Paul Ricard began with the third practice session, and both drivers combined to conduct running across all three compounds ahead of qualifying and the race.

Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian, like most of the grid, was put under pressure at the beginning of Q1 by a crash for Yuki Tsunoda that brought out the red flag during the opening runs.

He would return to the track and set a lap time of 1.32.132 on a set of brand-new Soft tyres to rise into the top seven initially.

Sebastian’s lap time proved crucial as the opening runs effectively decided the battle to make Q2 because a late crash for Mick Schumacher prevented late improvements.

Race preview

Prepare for France

Get ready for this weekend's French Grand Prix with our in-depth preview. Discover the history of Paul Ricard, the challenges of a lap of the track and the key talking points for the race.

Get up to speed

Sebastian would take eighth at the end of Q1, sealing a place in the battle to make the top 10. He would swiftly head out at the beginning of Q2 on the Medium compound tyre as the majority of the field opted for the mid-range tyre.

With 10 minutes left on the clock, Sebastian moved into contention for Q3 after setting a 1.31.867 lap time that resulted in eighth.

He was unable to improve his time on a second run on Mediums, but he will line up 12th on the grid.

With the top 10 largely favouring the Medium tyres, Sebastian will have a chance to fight at for points in what is likely to be a tyre management race.

"We looked strong in Q1 on the soft tyres, but I do not think anybody wanted to start the race on the soft tyres, which is why we ran on the medium tyres in Q2.

"We believed there was a real chance to make Q3 on the medium, but, for yet unknown reasons, the balance did not feel as good on my last run.

"The front end was washing out and I could not extract the grip I needed. Maybe I pushed a bit too hard, but we were not far away from making Q3.

"For tomorrow, we have a free choice of tyres, but all of the top 10 will be on the medium tyres anyway, so it is not easy to vary the strategy. Tomorrow will be about who is best at managing the tyre life and degradation."

Lance Stroll

Lance was cruelly caught out by the chaotic first qualifying session at Paul Ricard as a series of incidents cost him a chance to fight for a Q2 place.

Tsunoda crashed as Lance was preparing to take his first true flying lap, forcing him back into the garage.

It would prove to be the same scenario in the final minutes of the session as he prepared for another flying lap in the final minute, only for Mick Schumacher to crash and bring out the red flag.

With less than 30 seconds left on the clock, the session was not restarted and, after Tsunoda crashed out, it means Lance will line up 19th for tomorrow’s Grand Prix.

“It is one of those things. You can never predict when red flags are going to happen, and we were very unlucky to have two in Q1. I also had a lap time deleted, but that lap showed there is good pace in the car.

"I felt happy with the balance and the progress we have made so far this weekend, so there are positives to take away. It is a shame it is difficult to overtake at Paul Ricard, but you never know.

"We will keep our fingers crossed for some rain tomorrow, and we will try to push our way up the field from P19 regardless.”

Otmar Szafnauer, CEO & Team Principal

"You win some, you lose some, often as a result of a hair’s breadth. Sometimes it really is not your fault. Today was one of those days.

"Lance drove a great lap in Q1, but it was disallowed owing to a small margin of track limits violation that gained him nothing in terms of lap time. Then his chances of recovering were scuppered due to the late red flag, which was outside of his control.

"Sebastian did well to get through to Q2 but struggled with a lack of front-end grip on his quick lap and ended up P12. As always, both drivers will push as hard as possible for points tomorrow."