Nyck de Vries taking Lewis Hamilton's place for FP1 at 2022 F1 French GP an indication of Mercedes' car strength, feels F1 pundit

Former F1 driver and TV pundit Anthony Davidson believes that Mercedes chose the right place to fulfill their obligation of having to run a young driver for a minimum of two FP1 sessions throughout the season.

In the first of two outings, the German team’s reserve driver and reigning Formula E world champion Nyck de Vries is set to take over the wheel of Lewis Hamilton’s W13 at the 2022 F1 French GP.

According to Davidson, Paul Ricard is one of the few circuits that suit the Silver Arrows well, hence any loss in practice they might incur by running a 'young driver' over the weekend will have little to no impact on their race prospects. In his analysis for Sky Sports, he wrote:

“It’s definitely a long shot, but I think if there’s any circuit you could choose from this season, it would have been Silverstone and probably Paul Ricard, the circuit we’re going to next, where they would have a chance to mix in with the top two teams Red Bull and Ferrari on genuine pace.”

He added, saying:

“Paul Ricard, a nice, smooth circuit which should suit the car. High grip situation as well, high degradation on the tyres. All of these elements coming together for Mercedes should mean, by rights, that the car should be in its happy place.”

Mercedes seemed much closer to the front-running pair of Ferrari and Red Bull at the British GP in Silverstone a few weeks ago, only to fall back once again in Austria.

Despite the uncertainties, the Silver Arrows hope to close down the gap between the W13 and the Red Bulls and the Ferraris over the coming few races, potentially joining the battle for the championship.

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Mercedes boss claims Ferrari-Red Bull dominance creates “boring races”; sparks backlash

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has received widespread backlash from the F1 community after he claimed that the Ferrari-Red Bull dominance this year has led to some “boring races”.

Speaking to the Independent ahead of the 2022 F1 French GP, Wolff had stated that “too much performance gap between the teams”, especially between the frontrunners and the rest of the field, was the main reason behind races becoming less entertaining.

Given Mercedes’ unprecedented dominance in the sport over the last eight years, however, many fans have been left unimpressed with Wolff’s “hypocritical” comments.

The Silver Arrows have been on the back foot this season, leaving them unable to compete for race wins and championships. They have, however, won the constructors' championship for the last eight seasons, while two of their drivers won seven consecutive drivers’ titles between 2014 and 2020.