Team Summary:
The opening Friday practice for the 2022 French Grand Prix would see both Williams drivers running with the upgraded FW44 while for other team we would see de Vries replacing Hamilton and Kubica replacing Bottas for the session. There would be a flow of drivers coming out with all three tyre types being used. Sainz would set a 1m:39.577 using the soft tyre but then Norris would move ahead with a 1m:37.604 only to see Leclerc go quickest with a time of 1m:37.420. But Verstappen would go even quicker with a 1m:35.727 on the soft followed by Leclerc also using the soft and Norris who was on the medium.

Russell was fourth followed by Ricciardo, Magnussen, and Nicholas seventh. It would rapidly change with Perez now second followed by Ricciardo, Norris, Leclerc, and Russell sixth. The only Williams running was in 10th. Verstappen had improved his time with a 1m:34.991 while we would have Stroll and Vettel seventh and eighth only to see the Williams move ahead to be seventh. De Vries would move into fourth to be ahead of Ricciardo, Alonso Gasly, Norris, Russell, and Magnussen tenth. The Williams pair were now 11th and 12th with the pair using the soft and hard tyre. But with improvements in their times they would now be 10th and 12th with twenty five minutes completed.

The order was Verstappen from Perez, Leclerc, Russell, Sainz, Gasly, de Vries, Ricciardo, Alonso and Zhou tenth while the Williams pair were now 12th and 14th with just under thirty minutes remaining in the session. On the soft tyre Sainz was now quickest with a time of 1m:34.268 from Verstappen, Russell, de Vries and Perez now fifth with all these drivers having used the soft tyre to set their times. We would then see one of the Williams moving into sixth dropping to eighth while the other was now 19th.

Leclerc was able to move into second to be ahead of Sainz, Gasly, Russell, Perez, Norris, Alex, de Vries and Ricciardo tenth. The Williams pair were now eighth and 20th and with nine minutes remaining they would return using the medium and hard tyres. At the front Leclerc was now quickest with a time of 1m:33.930 from Verstappen and Sainz. As the session drew to a close the field were out running all on longer runs including both Williams. Russell was now fourth followed by Gasly, Perez, Norris, Alex, de Vries, and Ricciardo tenth. With the end of the session the Williams drivers would remain eighth and 20th. The drivers would be able to complete practice starts from the grid at the end of the session. Given his previous experience was a great result to see Alex eighth while Nicholas was obviously developing his understanding of the upgraded car only managing 20th.

Alex Albon:
Alex would be first out for Williams in the session. On the mediums he would pit after a single lap. Alex would return now using the hard tyre. He would set a 1m:37.796 to be 12th right behind his team-mate. Alex would improve with a 1m:37.193 to improve only to currently be 11th. He would drop to 12th as he continued his hard tyre run. He would pit after a seven lap run. For his next run Alex was now on the soft tyre and with a 1m:35.768 he would now be sixth. He would drop to seventh but was ahead of Alonso. Alex would improve with a 1m:35.414 to again be sixth. This would become eighth after he pitted from a five lap run on the soft tyre. With nine minutes remaining Alex would return again on the hard tyre but used ones. He would complete fifteen laps on the hard tyre with the end of the session.

Nicholas Latifi:
For the French weekend Nicholas would be running with the upgraded FW44 so he was hopeful of seeing some improvements come his way. Nicholas would come out for his first run using the soft tyre. Nicholas would set a 1m:38.799 to be seventh dropping to 10th. He would improve with a 1m:37.724 to be seventh dropping to 10th. Nicholas was now 11th just 0.177 behind Magnussen both on the soft tyre. A 1m:37.071 would see Nicholas now 9th. He would pit after a seven lap run to be just 0.266 behind Alonso also on the soft tyre. Nicholas was back out this time on the medium currently 12th. He would drop to 15th as he continued lapping on the medium tyre. This would become 20th as every driver set quicker times using the soft tyre. Nicholas would pit after a six lap run on the medium tyre. With nine minutes remaining Nicholas would return on used medium tyres. With the end of the session he would have completed fourteen laps on the medium tyre.