At the 3.841 kilometres long Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, the 17-year-old Canadian was 0.081 seconds faster than 21-year-old New-Zealander Nick Cassidy (Prema Powerteam, 1:24.299 minutes), who ended up second. Red Bull-backed junior Niko Kari (Motopark, 1:24.466 minutes) from Finland was the best-placed rookie driver in third from Brit George Russell (HitechGP, 1:24.489 minutes). The fastest lap times of 17 of the young drivers were within one second, a clear proof of the balance in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship field.

Qualifying turned out to be an interesting affair as the battle for pole position was only decided in the final seconds. Several drivers took their turns at the top of the timing screens until Lance Stroll secured himself first place at the final moment. Earlier on, drivers alternating in first place included reigning Japanese Formula 3 champion Nick Cassidy and Formula 3 novice Niko Kari. However, both drivers eventually had to make do with a position behind the protégé of the Williams Formula 1 team.

In fourth and fifth place respectively, British duo George Russell and Ben Barnicoat (HitechGP, 1:24.545 minutes) put in a strong performance to get the first full-season campaign for HitechGP in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship underway. Barnicoat was also classified as the second-best rookie driver in qualifying. The sole representative of his team at Le Castellet, Mikkel Jensen (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport, 1:24.574 minutes) ended up sixth from Sérgio Sette Câmara (Motopark, 1:24.593 minutes), Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam, 1:24.629 minutes), rookie driver Joel Eriksson (Motopark, 1:24.681 minutes) and Alessio Lorandi (Carlin, 1:24.884 minutes).

Lance Stroll (Prema Powerteam): “Especially because of the high winds, qualifying was by no means easy, but that was the same for all of us. After all it made the session quite exciting. My car was really good and the team did an excellent job. Prema Powerteam locked out the first two places, which, of course, is a great start of the season. However, this weekend includes one more qualifying and three races, so we have to remain focussed. Anyway, starting off like this is great.”