Photo: FIA F3 European Championship
FIA F3 European Championship leader Esteban Ocon has claimed pole position for the first race of the weekend at his home event in Pau.
With the field split into two groups for qualifying around the French street circuit, Ocon claimed pole with one final attempt at the end of the Group B session following a late red flag.
Prior to that, the Lotus F1 junior had been 0.006 seconds shy of the time of Group A pace-setter Lucas Auer.
Max Verstappen was a rival of fellow free practice leader Ocon in Group B, and was just 0.003s behind him during the late stoppage, caused when Ed Jones crashed heavily at Foch. The Dutch single-seater rookie did also find time with his final lap, but finished 0.024s slower than Ocon.
Nicholas Latifi was second in Group A to join Verstappen on row two. Jake Dennis had strong pace throughout Friday at a circuit he raced on in Formula Renault 2.0 last year and finished third in Group B. Fellow Carlin driver Tom Blomqvist was third in Group A, but must serve the final stage of his three-race ten-place grid penalty for an engine change at Hockenheim last week.
Dennis van de Laar should inherit the place after finishing fourth in Group B, with Jordan King have finished in the same spot in Group A. Jones was fifth in Group B, with Felix Serralles fifth in Group A. Like Jones, Serralles triggered a late red flag in his session. Roy Nissany caused a red flag early in Group B.
Race one grid
| Pos | ?Driver? | Team | Time? | Gap |
| 1 | Esteban Ocon | Prema Powerteam | 1:10.072 | |
| 2 | Lucas Auer | Mucke Motorsport | 1:10.429 | 0.357 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:10.096 | 0.024 |
| 4 | Nicholas Latifi | Prema Powerteam | 1:10.559 | 0.487 |
| 5 | Jake Dennis | Carlin | 1:10.570 | 0.498 |
| 6 | Jordan King | Carlin | 1:10.714 | 0.642 |
| 7 | Dennis van de Laar | Prema Powerteam | 1:10.664 | 0.592 |
| 8 | Felix Serralles | Team West-Tec | 1:10.769 | 0.697 |
| 9 | Ed Jones | Carlin | 1:10.887 | 0.815 |
| 10 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1:10.840 | 0.768 |
| 11 | Sean Gelael | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1:11.078 | 1.006 |
| 12 | Spike Goddard | ThreeBond with T-Sport | 1:10.930 | 0.858 |
| 13 | John Bryant-Meisner | Fortec Motorsports | 1:11.519 | 1.447 |
| 14 | Riccardo Agostini | EuroInternational | 1:10.960 | 0.888 |
| 15 | Gustavo Menezes | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:11.577 | 1.505 |
| 16 | Tom Blomqvist | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1:10.634 | 0.562 |
| 17 | Felipe Guimares | Double R Racing | 1:11.583 | 1.511 |
| 18 | Mitch Gilbert | Fortec Motorsports | 1:11.035 | 0.963 |
| 19 | Alexander Toril | ThreeBond with T-Sport | 1:11.654 | 1.582 |
| 20 | Antonio Fuoco | Prema Powerteam | 1:11.097 | 1.025 |
| 21 | Tatiana Calderon | Jo Zeller Racing | 1:11.826 | 1.754 |
| 22 | Felix Rosenqvist | Mucke Motorsport | 1:11.137 | 1.065 |
| 23 | Michele Beretta | EuroInternational | 1:11.931 | 1.859 |
| 24 | Jules Szymkowiak | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:11.571 | 1.499 |
| 25 | Hector Hurst | Team West-Tec | 1:12.693 | 2.621 |
| 27 | Roy Nissany | Mucke Motorsport | 1:13.066 | 2.994 |