Work to do for Mercedes: 'Both drivers not entirely satisfied'

After two very disappointing races in Monaco and Baku, Mercedes will be desperate to strike back in France, and judging by the timesheets on Friday, Mercedes should be quite satisfied, but the German team is not getting carried away.

Mercedes back on top

In the first free practice session, it was Valtteri Bottas who was fastest with a time of 1:33.448, whilst Lewis Hamilton was in P2, 0.335 seconds behind. Max Verstappen in his Red Bull was third, 0.432 seconds behind. In the second free practice, Verstappen managed to jump the two Mercedes drivers with a 1:32.872. Bottas was second, only eight thousandths behind on a harder compound. Hamilton was third, 0.253 seconds back.

Mercedes technical director Andrew Shovlin looked back on the first day in France in the Mercedes debrief. "It was a busy day trying to fit in a programme with low fuel and longruns of decent length, but that will always be the case with only one hour in each session."

Not entirely satisfied

"In terms of pace we look reasonable and it seemed easier to get one lap out of the tyres than in Baku or Monaco," Shovlin is reasonably satisfied with the free practice sessions. With the drivers, however, it's a different story. "Neither driver is completely happy with the car though, so we need to do some more research tonight to see how we can get the balance a bit more predictable."