Red Bull and Ferrari remain in a league of their own at the top of Formula 1 and it could be a while before Mercedes win again, seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton said after qualifying for the French Grand Prix – his 300th start in the top flight.
While a sense of expectation had built before Mercedes arrived at Le Castellet, the track evidence was that the performance gap between the pace-setting Ferrari and Red Bull teams had grown rather than shrunk.
Hamilton qualified fourth but nearly a second off the pace of Ferrari’s pole-sitter Charles Leclerc, although the Monegasque did get a useful slipstream tow from teammate Carlos Sainz. Hamilton’s teammate George Russell will start sixth, behind McLaren’s Lando Norris.
“I’m really happy with my qualifying session,” Hamilton told Sky Sports television. “My last lap was great. I finished it and I was like ‘ah, it’s an awesome lap.’ It was still nine tenths off the guys ahead.
“I’m not really sure why that gap’s got bigger between these two races. They are kind of in their own league I would say, just performance-wise.”
Hamilton said upgrades Mercedes had brought were worth maybe half a tenth of a second: “Last race we were three or four tenths off and I was thinking this weekend maybe we’ll be two tenths off and then we’ve been a second all weekend and sometimes a second and a half.”
Hamilton has finished third in the last three races but has now gone 12 without a win, the longest such drought of his career. The 37-year-old makes his 300th start on Sunday and no driver has ever won after going past that milestone.
Lewis: I’m not sure why that gap has got bigger between these two races
The next race, Hungary, is an old favourite of Hamilton’s and he has won there a record-equalling eight times: “If at the next race we can close a couple of tenths, then we’ll be in the fight in Budapest but if it’s anything like this, then it’s going to be a while. But it’s not impossible.”
In the team report, Hamilton added: “Considering I missed FP1, which definitely puts you on the back foot, I’m really happy with the progress that I made and everyone back at the factories was working very hard with us.
“We took a step backwards today in final practice, but we managed to turn it around. We’re still there and everyone behind me is struggling, too, so we just keep fighting,” declared Hamilton.
In the sister Mercedes, George Russell who will line up on the third row echoed his teammate regarding their performance or lack thereof: “As a team I feel we’re a bit further away than we would have hoped or expected, especially after yesterday.
“Personally, I had a good start to Q3, I was in P4 and just made a mistake on my last lap. At the end of the day, I think the time gap to the front is more concerning than the position. We need to understand it, as we’re the only team on the grid that closes the gap to the front on a Sunday compared to a Saturday.
“All the other gaps extend, and we manage to reduce it. Hopefully, Lewis can take the fight to Checo tomorrow, but I think Charles and Max are probably too quick for us at the moment” admitted Russell.
Ahead of tomorrow’s 12th Round and the halfway mark of the 2022 F1 World Championship, Russell is fifth on 128 points with Hamilton sixth on 109; Red Bull’ Max Verstappen leads on 208 points. (Additional reporting by Alan Baldwin)