The French Grand Prix will have a grid penalty for Carlos Sainz.
He has only a 10 place penalty for using a third electronics control unit.
His engine fire at the Austrian Grand Prix sent him to the back of the grid.
Charles Leclerc was the leader in the first practice.
Leclerc and Verstappen were separated by just 0.091 seconds as they tried out new parts.
Sainz ran the old floor at Circuit Paul Ricard to compare the data from both designs before deciding which to run for the weekend.
On his fastest lap, Verstappen ran wide and bounced over the kerb on the exit of the Beausset double left-handed, whereas Leclerc had a clean lap.
George Russell was fourth fastest in the Mercedes, but he was almost one second off the pace.
Nyck de Vries was running in Lewis Hamilton's car as one of the mandatory young driver outings required of each team. The eighth fastest was the Dutch.
Pierre Gasly was fifth fastest in the Alpha Tauri, ahead of the second Red Bull ofSergio Perez, who had a spin early in the session.
McLaren's Lando Norris was seventh fastest, followed by Alex Albon, De Vries and the second McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo.
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