Lewis Hamilton delivered a sensational lap on his final run to secure his third pole position of the season in French Grand Prix qualifying, beating Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas as rivals Ferrari’s challenge failed to materialise.

Mercedes have had the measure of Ferrari all weekend, but Sebastian Vettel’s time in the second segment of qualifying suggested we might yet have a multi-team fight for pole. It was not to be, though, as Mercedes turned it up when it mattered – as they have so often done in the V6 era.

Hamilton set the best time on his first run and then bettered it on his second with a new track record, nearly three-tenths of a second clear of Bottas, who made a mistake on his final lap.

It was the 62nd Mercedes front row lockout, moving them into a tie for the record with McLaren, Williams and Ferrari while Hamilton is the only driver on the grid to have started in the top three in every race so far this season.

Charles Leclerc was Ferrari’s lead driver for only the second time this year, three-tenths further back in third, as his team mate Sebastian Vettel struggled, failing to set a lap time on his first run after losing momentum and only managing a distant seventh on his second.

McLaren delivered their best qualifying performance in years, with Lando Norris a brilliant fifth ahead of Carlos Sainz, the duo looking quick on both the soft and medium tyres throughout the whole session.

Daniel Ricciardo gave Renault, in their home race, a top 10 start with eighth, although he has been called to see the stewards regarding a potential impeding infringement in Q1. Red Bull's Pierre Gasly and Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi completed the top 10.