F1 French Grand Prix 2022: Live updates and highlights as Max Verstappen leads following Charles Leclerc crash

Charles Leclerc claimed pole at the French Grand Prix ahead of world champion Max Verstappen.

Leclerc and his Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz, who will start at the back of the grid after having a new engine and control electronics fitted, were dominant during Friday practice but Verstappen hit back to go quickest in FP3.

Leclerc found the response he needed with a hot lap of 1:30.872 in Q3 to pip the world champion to first place on the grid.

It is the Monegasque driver’s 16th career pole and seventh this season, and he will now turn his attention toward attempting to claim back-to-back wins after his triumph in Austria last time out.

Sergio Perez is third, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and the McLaren of Lando Norris.

MORE: Formula 1 standings 2022: Updated schedule, results, betting odds for every F1 World Championship race

F1 French Grand Prix 2022 live updates, highlights

Lap 52: Sainz sets a new fastest lap but he won’t be finishing any higher than fifth barring some very late drama. Perez now seems to be claiming Russell went off the track to pass him, but he remains fourth for the final lap.

Lap 51: Russell goes third! As the virtual safety car ends, Perez seemed to be sleeping for the restart and Russell simply stole down the inside. The Mexican has got DRS and superior speed, so we’ve got a two-lap fight for the podium here!

Lap 50: Zhou’s car has come to a halt and we’re going to have a virtual safety car. No late tyre changes, then. That’s the fifth retirement of the day.

Lap 48: Russell just doesn’t quite have the speed to keep the pressure on Perez, but that Red Bull’s grip is diminishing fast. Can he hold on?

Lap 47: Verstappen’s lead is now at more than 10 seconds with just six laps to go. Hamilton is comfortably clear of Perez, but Russell is still battling for that final podium spot.

Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc has spoken about his crash — and he’s blaming nobody but himself. 

“A mistake,” he said. “I think I’m performing at the highest level of my career, but I’m losing too many points. Twenty-five here, because we were probably the strongest car here. It’s unacceptable. I need to get on top of those things.”

Lap 45: That near-miss between Perez and Russell will not be investigated, so the Red Bull is still third. Hamilton and Verstappen have clear track around them at the moment.

Lap 43: And after all that, Sainz pits on the next lap! Incredible, bizarre race management from Ferrari. Meanwhile, Perez and Russell come dangerously close to a collision, but the Red Bull remains in front. Sainz is now eighth, by the way, on fresh tyres but presumably fuming.

Watch Sainz overtake Perez (UK):

Sainz passes Perez into 3rd! 😮 pic.twitter.com/Y0P9j7HQXK

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 24, 2022

Lap 42: Incredible scenes as Sainz goes third — all while being told to pit! The Spaniard at last drew close enough to Perez for a run down the outside, but the Red Bull squeezes him wide. Sainz goes for it again and turns superbly, and just as he pulls ahead of Perez, his team tell him to pit! “Not now!” comes the reply!

Lap 40: Magnussen retires in the pits, but Latifi is still running. That means we’re still at just three retirements for the day, which is some going in this heat. Verstappen’s lead over Hamilton has now grown to more than eight seconds, while Perez is still ahead of Sainz, the only frontrunner still out there on the medium compound.

Lap 38: Verstappen tells his team: “Everyone must be struggling with the left front.” Well, the leader can’t be finding it too difficult — his lead over Hamilton is now more than seven seconds. Meanwhile, Nicholas Latifi has collided with Magnussen after trying to pass him for P15. They’ve both pitted, and it looks like their races could be over.

Lap 37: Sainz is around half a second behind Perez now — he’s doing his utmost to salvage this weekend for Ferrari. Russell has fallen more than three seconds behind the top four now.

Carlos Sainz’s serene progress through the field continue as he passes Russell into 4th! pic.twitter.com/zAEnuYbNph

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 24, 2022

Lap 35: Hamilton, Perez and Sainz are starting to form a bit of a queue in the battle for second. Back in ninth, Ocon has closed right onto the back of the McLarens, who were held up by Alonso just as he predicted. The man really does know.

Lap 32: Hamilton makes a mistake and goes off the track at Turn 2. He’s dropped to 5.7 seconds behind Verstappen, while Perez has been able to close to around 1.5 seconds further back.

Lap 30: Sainz up to fourth! He goes wheel-to-wheel with Russell and holds his nerve down the outside of Turn 13. Bold and brilliant driving. Of course, Sainz will have to stop again to change those mediums and serve a penalty…

Ferrari fans can relate 😭 pic.twitter.com/WOmvBTcdJ9

— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) July 24, 2022

Lap 27: Alonso is warned about Norris closing the gap. “No problem,” he says. “I want him close to me to kill the tyres.” The man knows.

Lap 26: We’ve reached the halfway stage of the race. The top five are:

1. Verstappen
2. Hamilton
3. Perez
4. Russell
5. Sainz (pending five-second penalty)

Charles Leclerc, who led from pole position, crashed out on the 18th lap.

Lap 23: Zhou Guanyou’s had to pit for a new front nose after clipping the back of Schumacher’s Haas. Haas are now back in 15th and 17th, having looked on course for a positive race prior to the safety car. Meanwhile, Sainz (who is now fifth) has been hit with a five-second penalty for an unsafe pit release.

Lap 20: The safety car is in and we’re racing again. It’s Verstappen who leads, with Hamilton second, Perez third and Russell fourth.

Lap 19: Leclerc had mentioned problems with rear grip, and we’ve just seen why. He lost the back of the car and there was nothing he could do. We’ve just heard him over the radio mention a throttle problem, before screaming his frustration. Verstappen has asked his own team if Leclerc is okay (he is — he’s on his way back to parc ferme).

LECLERC CRASHES OUT OF THE FRENCH GP! 😤 pic.twitter.com/7elKawZANe

— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) July 24, 2022

Lap 18: LECLERC IS OUT! Would you believe it? Leclerc has gone into the tyre wall after Turn 11 and is out of the race! There is a stunned silence in the Ferrari garage. We’ve got a safety car so teams are scrambling to change tyres, with Verstappen now leading from Hamilton and Vettel after all those pit stops.

Watch Leclerc crash out (Canada):

REPLAY:

Watch @Charles_Leclerc spin into the tire barriers from the race lead.#Formula1 | #FrenchGP pic.twitter.com/3M7e9vZGIx

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) July 24, 2022

Watch Leclerc crash out (UK):

Leclerc crashes into the barriers!!! He is OUT 😲 pic.twitter.com/kZUr4IZgQQ

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 24, 2022

Lap 17: Verstappen pits! A 2.4-second change onto hards and he’s back out behind Norris, putting him seventh (although he soon moves up to P6). Leclerc tells his team his tyres are suffering, but Ferrari have been discussing ‘Plan B’ over the radio and the pit crew aren’t readying themselves… are they going for a one-stop strategy?

Lap 15: Verstappen is 1.9 seconds behind Leclerc now and Russell is closing the gap to Perez in fourth. Red Bull’s day is suddenly looking a little less promising. All 20 cars are still out on the track, but reliability is going to be sorely tested in these temperatures.

Lap 12: Sainz passes Sebastian Vettel in some style and then surges away from Lance Stroll, while Russell has taken fifth place from Alonso. Hamilton’s got some free track around him but he can’t quite close the gap to Verstappen in second. He’s about 6.5 seconds behind.

Lap 11: Perez, who’s had a couple of track warnings already, seems to be struggling for rear grip and has now fallen more than two seconds behind Hamilton. Leclerc still leads from Verstappen, and he looks a little more comfortable now.

LAP 11/53

So close yet so far for @Max33Verstappen 🤯😅

These two are certainly keeping us on our toes so far! #FrenchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/bHO2xWArrS

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2022

Lap 8: Props to Kevin Magnussen, by the way, who climbed eight places from the back of the grid. He’s just become the first man in the pits for a tyre change. The Aston Martins are next in line for Sainz, who is 12th and on the charge.

Lap 7: Verstappen has a look down the outside of Leclerc but he’s not quite close enough. Perez, meanwhile, is hanging off Hamilton’s rear wing. Red Bull are looking good in these early exchanges. Ocon, who was given a five-second penalty for that early collision with Tsunoda, moves into eighth above Daniel Ricciardo.

Lap 5: Make that 14th for Sainz, who leapfrogs Mick Schumacher. Leclerc has pulled a little further clear of Verstappen, with his lead at around eight tenths of a second. Perez is now piling the pressure on Hamilton…

Lap 4: Verstappen is closing the gap to Leclerc — he’s within DRS-range now. “Good pace,” say the team over the radio. Hamilton is a further four seconds down, with Perez chasing hard. Carlos Sainz has climbed to 15th from the back row.

What a start for Lewis Hamilton! #FrenchGP pic.twitter.com/MagPsebqJP

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 24, 2022

Lap 2: Fernando Alonso also made a great start, moving above George Russell into fifth. Esteban Ocon clipped Tsunoda to force that spin on the first lap, so we’ll expect stewards to look at that one.

LIGHTS OUT: It’s ‘go’ at the French Grand Prix! Leclerc beats Verstappen into the first corner, Hamilton is up to third! What a start from the Mercedes driver. Yellow flags are now out as Yuki Tsunoda took a spin. He’s still out there, but he’s got some work to do now.

10 minutes to lights out: We’re just minutes from getting underway here. Who are you backing to win race 12 of the season?

30 minutes to lights out: With the pit lane open and the grid filling up, things are starting to warm up… in more ways than one.

The temperature is rising and is expected to hit 34C (93F) today, which is going to make driver fatigue and car management a particular challenge. 

Lando Norris told Sky Sports: “It’s going to be a tough race both physically for us as drivers and also just managing everything. Managing the car, brake and tyre temperatures… it’s going to be a tough race from that side of it. Tricky, but exciting at the same time.”

It is WARM out there 🥵😅 pic.twitter.com/pdVDLestC2

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) July 24, 2022

40 minutes to lights out: Today, Hamilton becomes only the sixth driver in history to start 300 Grands Prix. The others are Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso, Rubens Barichello, Michael Schumacher and compatriot Jenson Button.

He’s won more than a third of all F1 races he’s entered (103 of 299, or 34.45 per cent), but he’s yet to get a victory in 2022.  What’s more, none of the other five drivers to go beyond 300 races managed to win another one. Could that change here?

Ahead of his parade lap around the Paul Ricard Circuit, Hamilton said he hoped to provide fans with “hopefully the best race ever!”. Here’s hoping…

🗣️ “They’re in their own league”

Hamilton remains unsure why the gap between Red Bull, Ferrari and the Mercs have gotten bigger! 👇 pic.twitter.com/DaNvl67pTc

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 23, 2022

1 hour to lights out: Hello, and welcome to The Sporting News’ live coverage of the 2022 French Grand Prix in Le Castellet.

Charles Leclerc held off Max Verstappen to win last time out in Austria and the Ferrari driver pipped the reigning world champion to pole position this weekend.

With Carlos Sainz moved to the back of the grid following technical changes, Leclerc will be on his own as he attempts to keep the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Sergio Perez at bay.

Lewis Hamilton, who qualified in P4, won here in 2018 and 2019 and was second last year, but his comparative lack of pace in qualifying means his hopes are not high of a victory on his 300th F1 start.

F1 French Grand Prix 2022 starting grid

How to watch Formula 1 in the USA

• Race: French Grand Prix
• Date: Sunday, July 24
• TV channel: ESPN
• Live stream: fuboTV

The ESPN family of networks will broadcast all 2022 F1 races in the United States using Sky Sports’ feed, with select races airing on ABC. You can also stream Formula 1 races live in the U.S. with fuboTV.

ESPN Deportes serves as the exclusive Spanish-language home for all 2022 F1 races in the U.S.

How to watch Formula 1 in Canada

• TV channel: TSN (English); RDS (French)
• Live stream: TSN Direct

For fans in Canada, TSN will carry the English-language telecast of races. For those looking for the French broadcast, RDS will have you covered.

Races can also be streamed via TSN’s streaming service, TSN Direct.

How to watch Formula 1 in the United Kingdom

• TV channel: Sky Sports F1
• Live stream: NOW TV

Viewers in the United Kingdom can catch all F1 action on Sky Sports F1, the dedicated F1 channel. For viewers planning to live stream F1 in 2022, you can purchase a Sky Sports Pass on NOW TV.

How to watch Formula 1 in Australia

• TV channel: Fox Sports; Channel 10
• Live stream: Kayo

Fox Sports will carry all races in Australia, with Channel 10 broadcasting the Australian GP.

Formula 1 schedule 2022

There are 22 scheduled events on the F1 docket for 2022, one race shy of tying the mark for the longest F1 calendar.

The season started in Bahrain on March 20 and will end with the customary Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, although a bit earlier than usual, in November. If the schedule stands, this will be the earliest end of the Formula 1 season since it concluded on Nov. 4 in 2013.

Returning to the 2022 F1 slate are the Canadian and Japanese Grand Prix, both of which were cancelled in 2021 amid fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. 

The calendar also holds the maiden voyage for the Miami Grand Prix, the first of two races in the United States in 2022, with the customary United States GP taking place in October.

The Russian Grand Prix, originally scheduled for Sept. 25, was cancelled because of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Here’s the latest schedule (subject to change — all times BST):