Lewis Hamilton's hopes of continuing his resurgent form at the French Grand Prix this weekend have taken a hit after he struggled with his Mercedes car in practice.
After three consecutive podium finishes, the likes of Damon Hill have tipped the F1 icon to finally end his wait for a race win in 2022 at the Circuit Paul Ricard. But after sitting out FP1, he was left frustrated after finishing fifth quickest in FP2, one place behind teammate George Russell.
And despite their W13 cars boasting new upgrades to the floor and front corner, the pair were notably off the pace of the front three. The Ferrari duo of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finished first and second respectively, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen third.
And when asked by reporters to specify the issues, Hamilton gave a sweeping response: "It’s just every corner," he said. "I’m going to have to dig deep into the data but it just feels like we’re lacking downforce today but otherwise, it’s okay.
"I can only have empathy for the guys that are even further back. I think generally, this generation of car is definitely nowhere near as good as it used to be in terms of grips but it also is the first year of this generation. So I’m sure it’ll get better over the years. But we have work to do."
However, Hamilton remained bullish about his chances of another podium finish in France, a notion enhanced by Sainz being set to take a 10-place grid penalty after taking a new engine component. But the 37-year-old played down any hopes of an outright race win.
"Today we were fourth and fifth," he continued. "So that’s kind of the reason we’ll be fighting for [a podium]. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t be on the podium, I think we can still be up there. Just still not as quick as those front guys and a bit further back than we were the last race."
Hamilton's place in first practice was taken by Nyck de Vries, as part of new measures to ensure all teams give reserve drivers an opportunity to take part in practice over the course of the season. However, afterwards Toto Wolff ruled out the possibility of the Dutchman appearing in a Grand Prix for the team anytime soon.
Russell meanwhile, also conceded that he and Hamilton had severe work to do in order to be in contention to take the chequered flag: “Outside shots is probably the way to put it,” he said.
He did however pledge to help the team work to address issues: “We’re probably a little bit further off the pace today than we would have hoped but work to do tonight and back at the factories but never say never," he added.
After finishing third in the opening race in Bahrain, Hamilton went eight races without a podium place before finishing third in Canada. He also took P3 at his home Grand Prix in Silverstone.
He repeated the feat in Austria despite crashing out in qualifying, and currently sits sixth in the standings on 109 points. Russell is one place ahead on 128.
