Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen moved clear of his rivals during final practice for Formula 1’s French Grand Prix.
Ferrari led the way through Friday’s running at Circuit Paul Ricard but Verstappen clocked a time of 1:32.272s to finish 0.354s clear of Carlos Sainz.
Sainz is set to drop to the back row of the grid for Sunday’s grand prix after taking on fresh power unit components.
Verstappen’s Medium tyre run would have been quick enough for second overall as he held a gap of 0.637s back to nearest title rival Charles Leclerc, who had an early spin on the entry to Turn 12.
Mercedes remained adrift as third-best, with Lewis Hamilton 0.983s back from Verstappen, and George Russell 1.1s off the pace in fourth and sixth respectively.
They finished either side of Sergio Perez, who had another low-key display compared to the performance of his team-mate.
Fernando Alonso moved Alpine up to seventh on its home turf, with Alexander Albon showing eye-catching pace by finishing eighth for Williams.
McLaren took ninth courtesy of Lando Norris, with Daniel Ricciardo 11th, while Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top 10 for AlphaTauri.
Nicholas Latifi reinforced Williams’ potential by finishing 12th, ahead of Pierre Gasly, who was the highest-placed home representative in 13th spot, as Esteban Ocon languished down in 17th place.
Alfa Romeo finished 14th and 15th, with Valtteri Bottas in front of Zhou Guanyu, while Haas had another off-colour display.
Kevin Magnussen, who will drop to the back row of the grid due to an engine penalty, was 16th overall, with Mick Schumacher in 19th place.
Aston Martin’s troubled spell showed little sign of abating as Lance Stroll took 18th while Sebastian Vettel was slowest on the Medium tyres.
Qualifying is scheduled to begin at 16:00 local time
