The first mark of 1 min 33 sec 930/1000th was the work of the Monegasque, winner last Sunday in Austria, now 38 points behind Max Verstappen, the reigning world champion and leader of the world championship.

It was up to 59°C, at the end of the first session, on the boiling track of Le Castellet and Leclerc beat Verstappen by 91 thousandths of a second, a year after the Dutchman's victory on the Var circuit.

Three hours later, it was the Spaniard from Ferrari who drove the point home: 1:32.527, with 101/1000th ahead of Leclerc.

Verstappen, defeated in Austria, was relegated to more than half a second (550/1000th), ahead of the two Mercedes drivers, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr, driving his Ferrari, during the first practice session of the Formula 1 French Grand Prix, July 22, 2022 at Le Castellet CHRISTOPHE SIMON AFP

In EL1, Lewis Hamilton, winner here in 2018 and 2019, had lent his Mercedes to Dutchman Nyck de Vries, reserve driver and Formula Electric world champion last year for the star brand, but only 9th of this first session.

After three consecutive podiums, the seven-time world champion hopes to finally win a victory this season, on the occasion of his 300th Grand Prix, on this circuit which could be more suitable for the revised and corrected German single-seaters.

Briton Lewis Hamilton, during the second practice session of the Formula 1 French Grand Prix, July 22, 2022 at Le Castellet Sylvain THOMAS AFP

Sainz penalized on the grid

Best time in practice, Sainz will have no hope of pole position on Saturday, as he learned on Friday that he would be penalized by at least ten places on the starting grid on Sunday due to an out-of-quota change of one electronic component of the hybrid engine of his Ferrari.

And other necessary changes could be decided by the Scuderia on Saturday, which would push him even further back on the grid.

It will therefore be one less rival for Leclerc on Sunday, since Ferrari still refuses, for the moment, to decide that Leclerc is the N.1 driver to aim for the world title - Sainz is 4th with 75 points behind "Mad Max ".

On the French side, in front of many enthusiastic fans, Alpine has not (yet) managed to come out on top, the Spaniard Fernando Alonso (11th in the 2nd session) and the Frenchman Esteban Ocon (18th) not being in able to set a good time.

They will still have a free practice session, Saturday at 1:00 p.m., to refine the settings of their blue and pink single-seater.

Spaniard Fernando Alonso, driving his Alpine, during the second practice session of the Formula 1 French Grand Prix, July 22, 2022 at Castellet Sylvain THOMAS AFP

The other Frenchman Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), has so far done better with 5th and 7th times, even if he is only 13th in the world.

Frenchman Pierre Gasly, driving his AlphaTauri, during the first practice session of the Formula 1 French Grand Prix, July 22, 2022 at Le Castellet Sylvain THOMAS AFP

Around 200,000 spectators are expected this weekend at Le Castellet, over three days, for what is currently the last year of the Var circuit and the South Region's contract with American Formula 1 promoters.

Dozens of shuttles and buses were to bring the majority of spectators back to their cars on Friday evening, in the towns and villages located around the circuit, where relay parking lots had been installed.

© 2022 AFP