Mercedes resort to "freestyling" at French GP as Toto Wolff issues "not good enough" verdict

dailystar.co.uk:

F1 season, but Mercedes are already counting down the days until 2023.There had been talk of the Silver Arrows challenging for victory at Paul Ricard, but unless the Red Bulls and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc hit trouble in the race, that is unlikely in the extreme.

On the face of it, qualifying fourth with Lewis Hamilton and sixth with George Russell represented a decent day at the office for the reigning constructors’ champions.

But the gap of almost a second between pole-sitter Leclerc and Hamilton underlined the chasm in pace they must bridge."We knew we would be the third force, as we have been all season, but it's just not good enough,” team boss Toto Wolff told Sky Sports after qualifying. "When you're on the back foot, your expectations are on a certain level for the race weekend and when it doesn't come together, kind of freestyling starts. READ MORE: Nico Rosberg tells Ferrari they made a "mistake" despite taking pole for French GP "With us, it was mainly experiments with rear wing levels and also tyre temperatures, but the overall package is just not quick enough and you can see that."Wolff described Hamilton’s performance as "immense", adding: "He's probably extracted more than the car has at the moment."With regulations staying largely stable for 2023, Mercedes will use the rest of this year to hone their car, which has shown genuine pace on occasions this season.

Hamilton is realistic about the road ahead for the team. Will Mercedes win a race this year? Have your say in the comments section below. "Of course, everyone's working as hard as they can and each weekend we come with little bits to try and improve, and sometimes it just doesn't make a difference.