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There are ways Lewis Hamilton could celebrate his 300th Formula One race with a win: the three cars in front crash, go technical or lose their strategic marbles.
Other than that cocktail of good luck, his chances are zero. Nada.
That was the stark reality facing the Mercedes star on his landmark weekend after qualifying for the French Grand Prix put him in the slow lane to nowhere.
Lewis Hamilton had hoped for an improvement in pace from his Mercedes car this weekend
He was fourth best, which is tolerable in this year of strife, but his near one-second deficit to Ferrari’s pole man Charles Leclerc is enough to bring on an ulcer.
Hamilton’s plight is rendered all the more gut-churning because Mercedes were anticipating an improvement on the silky smooth Paul Ricard track. Upgrades offered hope. Design flaws were being understood and ironed out.
So the theory ran, until the wheels turned on Friday afternoon. And the evidence of practice was reinforced by qualifying, which determined that champion and leader Max Verstappen would share the front row with Leclerc. Sergio Perez was third best.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took his seventh pole of the season from title rival Max Verstappen
Hamilton was at least helped by Carlos Sainz starting from the back of the grid for taking on a new engine after his car went up in smoke a fortnight ago in Austria.
To add to Mercedes’ misery, George Russell was only sixth best after Lando Norris in a refurbished McLaren interposed himself between his two fellow Brits.
As this latest setback unfolded, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff watched on impassively from the garage. He has learned to treat every fresh dawn as false until it is proven otherwise. He later admitted the day’s events had been a ‘slap in the face’.
Mercedes rookie driver Nyck de Vries took the cockpit during first practice and finished ninth
Hamilton has not engaged in hoopla about making it to 300 races and joining only five other long-toothed…
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Source : dailymail
