Formula One: French Grand Prix – live!

For there to be a title race, we probably need a Charles Leclerc win here, to repeat his win in the Austrian GP last time out. Despite that, Max Verstappen still has a 38-point advantage over the Monegasque driver in second place and 57 points on Sergio Pérez, and is sat second on the grid today at Paul Ricard. Leclerc and Verstappen, with due deference to George Russell should Mercedes sort themselves out, looks like the rivalry of the future. The issue all season has been Ferrari may well be quicker over a single lap but do not have the reliability and pit-lane nous of Red Bull, who themselves have not been completely watertight. Still, Leclerc driving like a demon conjures memories of Ferrari at their best. Verstappen has already had it harder than last year here, when he was on pole, won the race and set the fastest lap. Now, can Leclerc make his title defence harder?

The lights go out at 2pm, join me.

Starting grid positions

• 1 Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
• 2 Max Verstappen – Red Bull
• 3 Sergio Perez – Red Bull
• 4 Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
• 5 Lando Norris – McLaren
• 6 George Russell – Mercedes
• 7 Fernando Alonso – Alpine
• 8 Yuki Tsunoda – AlphaTauri
• 9 Daniel Ricciardo – McLaren
• 10 Esteban Ocon – Alpine
• 11 Valtteri Bottas – Alfa Romeo
• 12 Sebastian Vettel – Aston Martin
• 13 Alex Albon – Williams
• 14 Pierre Gasly – AlphaTauri
• 15 Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
• 16 Guanyu Zhou – Alfa Romeo
• 17 Mick Schumacher – Haas
• 18 Nicholas Latifi – Williams
• 19 Carlos Sainz – Ferriari
• 20 Kevin Magnussen – Haas

Driver championship standings

• 1. Max Verstappen – 208 points
• 2. Charles Leclerc – 170 points
• 3. Sergio Perez – 151 points
• 4. Carlos Sainz – 133 points
• 5. George Russell – 128 points
• 6. Lewis Hamilton – 109 points
• 7. Lando Norris – 64 points
• 8. Esteban Ocon – 52 points
• 9. Valtteri Bottas – 46 points
• 10. Fernando Alonso – 29 points
• 11. Kevin Magnussen – 22 points
• 12. Daniel Ricciardo -17 points
• 13. Pierre Gasly – 16 points
• 14. Sebastian Vettel -15 points
• 15. Mick Schumacher – 12 points
• 16. Yuki Tsunoda – 11 points
• 17. Guanyu Zhou – 5 points
• 18. Alex Albon – 3 points
• 19. Lance Stroll – 3 points