Mercedes arrived at Paul Ricard hoping to take a step forward to compete with Red Bull and Ferrari at the front of the pack, only to finish eight tenths of a second off pole position on Saturday.

But Hamilton made a good start to rise from fourth to third before then taking second place when Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crashed out while leading, sparking a safety car period.

It left Hamilton behind race leader Verstappen on-track with a fresher set of hard tyres, but the Briton was unable to get in the fight against his 2021 title rival, eventually finishing 10 seconds behind.

Asked by Motorsport.com after the race if he had any hope of keeping up with Verstappen, Hamilton said the Red Bull driver was “just so fast” and that he could only stay with him for a couple of laps.

“Literal

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