Photo: Renault Sport
Formula Renault 3.5 championship leader Kevin Magnussen has once again displayed the edge over his rivals in qualifying, having taken pole position for race one at Paul Ricard.
The Danish driver emerged victorious in a session-long battle for pole, taking over at the top of the leaderboards in the closing minutes of the session and subsequently improving his laptime enough to put his first place beyond doubt.
Magnussen’s main championship rival Stoffel Vandoorne took second, three tenths down on the Dane, but narrowly ahead of Portuguese driver Antonio Felix da Costa.
Swiss driver and possible DTM seat contender Nico Muller was fourth with Will Buller, who led the session at midway point, taking fifth with a final-lap effort.
Lotus man Marco Sorensen will complete the third row of the grid, while Andre Negrao and Nigel Melker will line up seventh and eighth respectively. Carlos Sainz, Jr. and Will Stevens?rounded out the top ten.
Session results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Kevin Magnussen | DAMS | 1:46.797 | 12 | |
| 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | Fortec Motorsports | 1:47.097 | +0.300 | 13 |
| 3 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Arden Caterham | 1:47.121 | +0.324 | 13 |
| 4 | Nico Muller | International Draco Racing | 1:47.173 | +0.376 | 12 |
| 5 | William Buller | Zeta Corse | 1:47.255 | +0.458 | 13 |
| 6 | Marco Sorensen | Lotus | 1:47.425 | +0.628 | 12 |
| 7 | Andre Negrao | International Draco Racing | 1:47.476 | +0.679 | 13 |
| 8 | Nigel Melker | Tech 1 Racing | 1:47.529 | +0.732 | 13 |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz, Jr. | Zeta Corse | 1:47.643 | +0.846 | 14 |
| 10 | Will Stevens | P1 by Strakka Racing | 1:47.690 | +0.893 | 13 |
| 11 | Lucas Foresti | SMP Racing by Comtec | 1:47.757 | +0.960 | 13 |
| 12 | Arthur Pic | AV Formula | 1:47.863 | +1.066 | 14 |
| 13 | Matias Laine | P1 by Strakka Racing | 1:47.918 | +1.121 | 13 |
| 14 | Daniil Move | SMP Racing by Comtec | 1:47.920 | +1.123 | 11 |
| 15 | Norman Nato | DAMS | 1:47.930 | +1.133 | 13 |
| 16 | Christopher Zanella | ISR | 1:48.002 | +1.205 | 13 |
| 17 | Nikolay Martsenko | Pons Racing | 1:48.055 | +1.258 | 11 |
| 18 | Marlon Stockinger | Lotus | 1:48.061 | +1.264 | 12 |
| 19 | Zoel Amberg | Pons Racing | 1:48.064 | +1.267 | 12 |
| 20 | Oliver Webb | Fortec Motorsports | 1:48.204 | +1.407 | 13 |
| 21 | Mikhail Aleshin | Tech 1 Racing | 1:48.207 | +1.410 | 13 |
| 22 | Pietro Fantin | Arden Caterham | 1:48.225 | +1.428 | 13 |
| 23 | Carlos Huertas | Carlin | 1:48.397 | +1.600 | 13 |
| 24 | Jazeman Jaafar | Carlin | 1:48.626 | +1.829 | 14 |
| 25 | Yann Cunha | AV Formula | 1:49.395 | +2.598 | 12 |