Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton finished third fastest in Saturday's qualifying session for tomorrow's French Grand Prix, with a time of 1m16.693. However, the penalty he received in Montreal two weeks ago means that he will be relegated 10 positions on the grid to 13th. His team-mate Heikki Kovalainen qualified sixth fastest after setting a time of 1m16.944, was promoted to fifth due to Lewis’s grid penalty, but later received a five-place grid penalty, relegating him to 10th.
Qualifying Session One: 3 laps, 1:15.634 (4th)
Qualifying Session Two: 6 laps, 1:15.293 (3rd)
Qualifying Session Three: 6 laps, 1:16.693 (3rd)
LEWIS HAMILTON
"I have to apologise to the team for making a couple of errors on my final runs in Q3. I felt more confident on the prime tyres but went wide at Turn Seven on the first run because I was pushing to try to get the best out of the car. It was a little bit disappointing and, while my grid penalty doesn’t exactly hang over me, it doesn’t help - but I’ll take it on the chin. Overtaking is going to be tough on Sunday but I’m confident we’re going to be quick. And, as always, I’ll be pushing as hard as I can to score as many points as possible for the team."
