Four reasons the French Grand Prix is Mercedes' big opportunity

Mercedes’ 2022 season has been an enormous step backwards. After winning eight constructors’ and seven drivers’ titles in the space of eight years, the first half of the 2022 season has seen them not just winless, but also without much hope of victory. 

After a bumpy (quite literally) start, they have progressed in the past few races. Lewis Hamilton is now hopeful of ending his drought in his tenth year at the team. The French Grand Prix this weekend represents the team’s best hope of victory so far this year and perhaps even until the end of the season. 

In our most recent Racing Line F1 newsletter, former Jordan and Jaguar technical director and Telegraph Sport columnist Gary Anderson said he would not be surprised to see Mercedes up there on the top step of the podium at Paul Ricard. 

We detail the reasons why France gives Mercedes their best shot at victory in a season where they have had scant chance of one so far. 

The problems with the 2022 Mercedes car are well-documented and have been written about in length on these pages. In short, though, the W13 is different in concept to its rivals at the front, Ferrari and Red Bull, and that has led to the team struggling to keep pace at the front. 

Initially the problem was ‘porpoising’, as was the case with other teams, but that has now evolved into issues with bouncing. This is at its worst (and ultimately slowest) on bumpy tracks, as was shown in a run of three races in Monaco, Azerbaijan, and Canada. Not only was the car well off the pace with compromised set-ups, the drivers suffered physically, too. 

At Silverstone, Mercedes showed that the W13 could contend for race wins, with Hamilton fighting for victory, but falling just short. Still, their chances appear