LE CASTELLET, France, June 19 — Max Verstappen claimed pole today for the French Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes alongside the Red Bull driver on the front row.

Valtteri Bottas in the other Mercedes starts on the second row with for company Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez.

Verstappen leads Hamilton by four points in the Formula One word championship ahead of the seventh race of the season at the Circuit Paul Ricard tomorrow.

Hamilton won from pole the last two races staged at Le Castellet in 2018 and 2019, but Verstappen had approached qualifying as the man to beat after dominating the final two practice sessions. — AFP