Lewis Hamilton says Red Bull and Ferrari "are in a league of their own" as Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen prepare to battle it out once again at the French Grand Prix.
Leclerc came out on top at the Austrian Grand Prix two weeks ago and will start Sunday's race at Circuit Paul Ricard in pole position for the seventh time this season.
The Ferrari driver has momentum on his side, but he still trails Red Bull rival Verstappen by 38 points heading into the 12th race of 2022.
Verstappen's team-mate Sergio Perez finished third in qualifying after recovering from some flat practice showings, while Mercedes driver Hamilton was a distant fourth.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton is still seeking his first win of the campaign, but that seems unlikely to arrive in his 300th grand prix on the basis of Saturday's qualifying.
"It's not that it is disheartening, but you do a lap and you are told it is 1.7 seconds off and you are like 'what?'" Hamilton said.
"And then you do a really good lap and you are 1.1 seconds off and you are like 'wow'. There is nothing I can do in my power to change that.
"Everyone is working as hard as they can. Each weekend we come with little bits to try and improve, but sometimes that doesn't make a difference and that is difficult.
"The top two teams are in their own league. I came here this weekend hoping we would be within three tenths of them, and we are a second back.
"If it is anything like this it is going to be a while before we win, but it's not impossible."
The driver starting on pole has won the past three French GPs – Hamilton in 2018 and 2019 and Verstappen last year – though not since 1960 has it happened four times in a row.
Leclerc's 16th career pole was achieved in large thanks to a tow from team-mate Carlos Sainz, who will start at the back of the grid after a fourth engine change of the season.
Sainz provided a tow down the straights to help Leclerc edge Verstappen, but the latter does not believe the same tactic would have worked for Red Bull.
"No, because Ferrari gained only two to two-and-a-half tenths with the slipstream, Charles told me," Verstappen said. "It was also very logical that they did it.
"Obviously both me and Sergio Perez want to be in the best position possible. That's why I don't think we're doing that sort of thing. Neither of us had a grid penalty, either.
"It also seems logical to me. We are both still fighting for the title, so it is difficult to explain. It is up to Ferrari if they want to do that, but within our team we haven't talked about it."
Should Verstappen and Perez earn at least 12 points on Sunday, Red Bull will join Ferrari (9,015) and Mercedes (6,535.50) as the third team ever to reach the 6,000 points mark.
Perez has placed in the top two in six of the past seven finished races, two times more than his previous 186, and the Mexican is delighted with his starting position.
"It's been a good recovery. I've been nowhere the whole weekend. To be honest, I've been struggling a lot," he said.
"I think it's probably been my worst weekend up to qualifying, really, and finally we managed to recover well. Now we will try to beat those red cars. They were very strong today."
Bayer Leverkusen 2-3 Leipzig: Visitors fightback halts unbeaten streak for Alonso's side
Bayer Leverkusen suffered their first defeat in 36 Bundesliga matches, as Leipzig came from behind to stun Xabi Alonso's side 3-2 at BayArena.
Lois Openda struck twice for Marco Rose's, who recovered from 2-0 down to make it two wins from two and move to the summit of the table.
It looked like business as usual for the reigning Bundesliga champions when they scored twice in the last seven minutes of the first half through Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo.
However, Leipzig replied deep into first-half stoppage time with Kevin Kampl reducing the deficit.
Openda then brought the visitors level in the 57th minute, before a stunning long-range strike completed the turnaround 10 minutes from time, condemning Leverkusen to their first league defeat in 15 months.
Data Debrief: Leverkusen's long streak comes to a shuddering halt
Leipzig became the first side to beat Leverkusen in a Bundesliga match since Bochum achieved the feat a staggering 462 days earlier.
The visitors have begun a Bundesliga season with two wins from two for only the second time, also doing so in 2019-20.
They are also now unbeaten in 13 league matches, their longest such streak since Rose took charge.
As for Leverkusen, their invincible streak is officially history, as is their 29-game unbeaten run on home soil.
'We really let ourselves down' - Coleman slams Everton after late Bournemouth collapse
Seamus Coleman acknowledged Everton "really let ourselves down" and must "look at ourselves in the mirror" following their spectacular late collapse against Bournemouth.
Sean Dyche's side, who were seeking their first points of the season, led 2-0 in the 87th minute at Goodison Park through goals from Michael Keane and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
However, the hosts were undone by three crosses in the latter stages, with Antoine Semenyo pulling a goal back and Lewis Cook levelling, before Luis Sinisterra completed a sensational turnaround in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
Boos rung around Goodison Park as the Toffees remained pointless and rooted to the foot of the Premier League table, and Coleman echoed the supporters' frustrations.
"We really let ourselves down in front of our fans," the skipper said. "We cannot take our foot off the gas at this level. Unfortunately, we did that.
"We cannot be conceding the goals that we did. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror."
Meanwhile, Dyche bemoaned the lack of responsibility amongst his players, as they became the first side in Premier League history to lose a game after leading by two or more goals in the 87th minute.
"We did so much right until they scored their first goal," the Everton head coach said. "The game should have been out of sight. We conceded one and then threw it away. I can't put my finger on it right now.
"They kept raining it forward and got their reward in the end. They were playing it forward and crossing it into the box, and we didn't deal with it. Simple stuff, but we threw it away. It is the third game we have thrown away this season.
"Everyone was looking at someone else to deal with things and that is when there is trouble. You could see the body language change. You have to see games through, and we have enough experience to do that, but today we didn't."
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola added: "It was the worst game we played this season. Everton deserved to win today, but the players kept pushing.
"I always have hope because this team has spirit. We have done it before and had some good comebacks. The spark of the first goal made us believe we could do it again."
Norris 'surprised' by pole and expects tough Monza test
Lando Norris admitted his pole position at the Italian Grand Prix was "a surprise" after McLaren secured a second qualifying one-two of the season at Monza.
Norris, who is aiming to become the first McLaren driver since Lewis Hamilton in 2010 to win consecutive races, looks good to close the gap to championship leader Max Verstappen, who finished in seventh.
The Briton was just 0.109 seconds ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri, with Mercedes' George Russell 0.113s off the pace in third after an incredibly tight Saturday session.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were fourth and fifth for Ferrari at the team's home event, with Hamilton in sixth.
Sergio Perez enjoyed a better qualifying session this time around and will start the race in eighth, while Alex Albon and Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10.
Norris pipped Piastri by just 0.035s on his first lap in the top-10 shootout, before improving his time on his second attempt despite not being happy with his lap.
"To have a first and second when the field is as tight as it has been all weekend is a little bit of a surprise, but a nice one," Norris said.
"My lap, it hurts me to say it, was not a great lap. My first one was. But still good enough for pole and still very happy.
"There are a lot of quick drivers behind in quick cars, so I am not expecting an easy race. Plenty of question marks but a lot of excitement, I'm sure."
Verstappen, however, struggled with balance in the final qualifying session, having been expected to battle the two McLarens after a strong showing in Q2.
The three-time champion described the car as "shocking" at one point, and will have to come from midfield to claim a first win since the Spanish Grand Prix.
Should the Dutchman fail to win at Monza, it will be the first time since the 2020 season he has gone six races without a victory. He had a run of 11 winless races in a row that year from Spain to Sakhir.
"Q3 was very bad on both of my tyre sets. I just picked up a lot of understeer so I couldn't attack any corners any more," Verstappen said.
"I had to back it out a lot mid-corner and you lose a lot of lap time like that.
"Somehow in Q2 it wasn’t that bad. I did a 1:19.6 at that point and we were almost the quickest. We know our limitations and problems but at that point I think we had it fairly under control.
"But I went into Q3 and the balance was completely out, and I don't really understand how that happened."
Qualifying results
1. Lando Norris (McLaren)
2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
3. George Russell (Mercedes)
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
6. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
7. Max Versappen (Red Bull)
8. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
9. Alex Albon (Williams)
10. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
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