Mercedes 'looking to be a podium contender rather than a win contender' at 2022 F1 French GP, admits team's engineering director

Mercedes' trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has admitted that the Silver Arrows are not targeting a win just yet after being off the pace during the 2022 F1 French GP weekend.

Mercedes came to Le Castellet (Circuit Paul Ricard) with high hopes after bringing a slew of upgrades to the W13. These included a revised nose and front wing as well as a modified curvature of the floor in front of the rear tires to provide better airflow to the diffuser.

Mercedes expected these changes along with the smooth surface of the track and a lack of major elevation changes to aid their cause.

Unfortunately for Toto Wolff and Co., things have not gone according to plan. When compared to the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari, Mercedes were slower by almost a second in two out of three practice sessions. Come qualifying, this gap widened to over 1.1 seconds between polesitter Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in fourth.

With this disparity apparent to all watching, Andrew Shovlin conceded the best the team can hope for at the 2022 F1 French GP this weekend will be a podium finish.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the 53-lap race, the Briton said:

“Well, I mean, in terms of performance, we brought a small update, but not one that’s going to see us leapfrog any teams. The big question for us was: does the circuit suit us more than Austria or less than Silverstone? And if you look at yesterday, the positives were that the car wasn’t bouncing. I think we’re now at the better end of that. There was effectively none. We’re able to run the car where we want to run it.”

Shovlin went on to add, saying:

“Single-lap pace – we’d certainly say Max’s is out of reach, it looks like Charles is well out of reach... George had a better session. Lewis missing FP1 is one thing, but then the balance wasn’t where he wanted it in FP2 and in that situation, it’s quite difficult to recover. And then we didn’t do a great job of getting a good length of long-running. But you know, we’re still looking to be I think a podium contender rather than a win contender, but every weekend we’re learning and that’s the exciting thing at the moment for us is just understanding the rules better and better.”

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Mercedes' poor pace dampens Damon Hill's 2022 F1 French GP prediction

Earlier in the week, former F1 driver-turned-television analyst Damon Hill had predicted that Lewis Hamilton could win the 2022 F1 French GP.

While in conversation during the latest episode of the F1 Nation podcast alongside former F1 driver Gerhard Berger, Hill was asked to share his predictions for the upcoming race weekend. The Briton said:

“It’s a smooth track, brilliant for aerodynamics. This may help Mercedes if they haven’t fixed their porpoising or they need to get that car low to the ground. I’m gonna go Lewis Hamilton.”

Hill then went on to paint a hypothetical picture that he felt could turn his prediction into a reality. He added, saying:

“I think there’s going to be an incident. I think that first corner is a bit tricky, the little chicane thing. Let’s say Charles [Leclerc] loses his front wing, or Max [Verstappen] gets a puncture or something like that. Maybe even on pure pace, the Mercedes springs a surprise, because I think in their race trim Lewis has been on occasions very, very quick. It could even be Lewis first, George [Russell] second, and Carlos Sainz third. How about that?”

Having seen how the race weekend has unfolded thus far, the 1996 F1 world champion may want to eat his words before lights out at Le Castellet.