Mercedes arrived at Paul Ricard hoping to make a move on leading rivals Red Bull and Ferrari thanks to the smooth surface and track layout, which were thought to suit the W13’s strengths.
But Mercedes failed to get into the thick of the battle at the front in practice, before Hamilton and team-mate George Russell were able to take fourth and sixth place respectively in qualifying.
Hamilton said he felt “really good” on his final lap in Q3, calling it a “beautiful lap”, only to finish 0.893 seconds off Charles Leclerc’s pole position time for Ferrari.
“For whatever reason, it seems like we’re a lot further along this weekend, but then the whole group really is,” Hamilton said.
“The top two teams are really in a league of their own. But considering I missed FP1, which definitely puts you behind, I’m really happy with the progress we’ve made and everyone at the factory has worked really hard to make progress.
“We took a step back today, but in qualifying I was able to step it up.”
Mercedes have yet to finish a race higher than third this year, but Hamilton is adamant the team will be able to get back into the race for wins before the end of the season.
Asked if he could pinpoint when that victory might come, Hamilton said: “To be honest, I came here this weekend hoping we’d be within three-tenths of them and we’re second [off].
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“So with the three tenths I was hoping for, and 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 something like that, then it’s going to take a while. But it’s not impossible.”
Hamilton closed the gap on Ferrari and Red Bull to a loss on the straights, noting that his first sector time on his final Q3 lap was “just as quick as those guys”.
“But then it’s all downhill, we lose a lot,” Hamilton said. “I don’t know what time it is, but it should be at least half a second, probably just on the straights.
“And then that whole high-speed stretch, the last few turns, they’re pulling pieces on us. It’s like they have less drag and more downforce through the corners.”
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Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff echoed Hamilton’s concerns about how far away victory could be, saying the team had arrived in France “thinking we were going to race for victory” only to find themselves “further away, than we were before’.
“I hope for the other [tracks] we can have the same spin in the other direction,” Wolff said.
“We’ll find out what happened here and if it’s clearly something fundamental then, too.” [we can] race for wins this year.
“That still has to be the goal because we need direction for next year.”
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