The Ferrari drivers, separated by just 0.101 seconds, had a surprisingly large advantage over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who was 0.550secs back in third at Circuit Paul Ricard. But on race pace, the tables turned, with championship leader Verstappen faster than the Ferraris. Sainz is likely to start the race from the back of the grid. He already has a 10-place grid penalty for using too many engine parts after Ferrari exceeded their allowance of electronics control units. The two title-contending teams appear to have some thinking to do overnight – Red Bull to work out how to improve their one-lap pace; Ferrari on their tyre degradation, which appeared to be high on Leclerc’s long run.

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