Friday’s day of the 2022 Formula 1 French Grand Prix was an atypical day for Lewis Hamilton, who gave up his seat in the W13 to the reserve driver of the Silver Arrows, Nyck de Vries , to comply with FIA regulations which requires teams to field a debutant in two free practice sessions throughout this season.
The Briton watched carefully as he left his car for the Dutchman, but he was eager to return aboard the Mercedes, something I did in the afternoon at Paul Ricard. Once at the controls of his car, the seven-time world champion managed to take fifth position, just behind his partner, the young George Russell, who was fourth.
After Friday’s finish, Hamilton said they were still a long way from the favourites, Ferrari and Red Bull, despite many in the paddock saying the Germans would be serious contenders for victory in France.
“We hope to be fighting,” said the seven-time champion. “Today we were fourth and fifth, so that’s the area we’re going to fight for, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be on the podium. I think we can still be up there, we’re just not as fast as them yet. [Ferrari and Red Bull], and we’re a bit further behind than we were in the last race.”
The Englishman is on a run of three consecutive podium finishes this season, something he was missing after a poor start to the 2022 season, but he expects the heat to be a key factor at the weekend’s event in France.
“It hasn’t been the best of sessions, I’ve tried to get back into the rhythm as soon as possible, but it’s very hot,” he explained. “You could do a lot of slow laps to try and lower the temperature of the tyres, and I think I’ve done it, I think I’ve done well.”
“I made some changes going into [FP2], crazy, because the car hadn’t been there, but from where Nyck [de Vries] was, who did a great job this morning, he kept the car in one piece and it was great. “said the English.
“I’m grateful for the work he did, and we’ve got a lot of work to do, a lot of ground to make up yet. The car isn’t spectacular here, and we don’t know why, but I’m sure hopefully overnight. , we can take a small step,” Hamilton said.
In Mercedes they are aware that they still need to take a step forward to achieve their goal of being in the fight for victories, although they seem to know in which area they should spend resources at the Brackley factory.
“I think we’re lacking downforce, but otherwise we’re fine. I can only have empathy for those who are even further back, because this generation of cars is nowhere near as good as it used to be in terms of grip than it used to be. we had in the past,” said the British pilot.
“I am sure it will improve over the years, but yes, we have work to do. This weekend we are a little further behind than we had anticipated,” said Lewis Hamilton before facing his 300th career in Formula 1.
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