LE CASTELLET, France -- Daniel Ricciardo says his high-downforce setup in French Grand Prix qualifying contributed to the 0.190s gap he had to teammate Max Verstappen, who opted for a low-downforce setup.
The two Red Bull drivers qualified fourth and fifth in France, with Verstappen 0.483s off Hamilton's pole position lap.
With the Circuit Paul Ricard's long straights requiring good straight-line speed but its mix of high and medium-speed corners rewarding a high level of downforce, all teams faced a balancing act to find the perfect setup in qualifying. After Verstappen wasn't happy with his initial high-downforce setup in Friday practice, he opted to switch to a skinnier rear wing in second practice while Ricciardo stuck with the high-downforce.