'This is sad': F1 fans shattered over cruel Mick Schumacher blow

F1 fans were left gutted for Mick Schumacher on Saturday when the Haas young gun qualified for his first Q2 at the French Grand Prix but couldn't take part.

With qualifying watched by a 15,000-strong crowd allowed in after the easing of coronavirus restrictions, Q1 was only four minutes old when it was red-flagged.

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Japanese rookie Yuki Tsunoda lost control of his Alpha Tauri coming out of turn one, his car pirouetting gracefully into the safety barrier.

This was the fourth time out of seven that Tsunoda had failed to progress to Q2.

Then with just 22 seconds left in Q1, Schumacher's Haas crashed into a barrier.

It was the cruellest of luck for the German after he qualified for Q2 for the very first time in his fledgling F1 career, only to learn he would be unable to take part with his car requiring repairs.

"I pushed too hard going into the corner and that kicked out the rear," Schumacher said.

"The car is very wind affected – I don’t know if that would have triggered some extra oversteer.

"Nonetheless, we’ve managed to get into our first Q2 session of the year, so things brighten up and hopefully we can get more of those days in the future."

Fans expressed their sadness for Schumacher - son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher - on social media.

Max Verstappen secures pole for French Grand Prix

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen claimed pole for the French Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes alongside the Red Bull driver on the front row to lay the foundations for another gripping instalment in this season's delicately-poised title battle.

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

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

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.

Verstappen, claiming his first pole since the season-opener in Bahrain, is anxious to translate pole into a win after a shredded tyre robbed him of almost certain victory in Baku last time out.

"So far it's been a really positive weekend, on a track that is normally difficult for us. To get pole position was really nice," he said.

"Great day for us but we have to finish it off tomorrow and get 25 points - which we lost in Baku. Great promise from our side."

After struggling to keep tabs with his Red Bull rival in practice, Hamilton was relieved to narrow the gap between them to 0.258s.

"We'll keep pushing, keep fighting and giving it everything," Hamilton said.

"Their long-run pace is a tenth or two quicker than us, but the car's in a much different place now.

"We're going to fight for a chance into turn one and there could be some interesting strategy tomorrow, and I think there could be some rain tomorrow, so a chance to see a rain master."

Carlos Sainz for Ferrari posted the fifth-quickest time in qualifying to seal a third row spot with Pierre Gasly's Alpha Tauri joining him.

Then came Sainz's teammate Charles Leclerc and McLaren's Lando Norris, with Fernando Alonso (Alpine) and Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) completing the top 10.

with AFP

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