Lewis Hamilton hits the sweet spot with Mercedes power boost ahead of French Grand Prix

This is a crucial race as it marks the point where teams can update to their latest engines after doing the first seven events

When it came to looking relaxed, satisfied and chilled in the heat of Paul Ricard’s hard sun on Friday afternoon, Lewis Hamilton definitely had the market cornered. Fresh from setting the fastest lap in the first session and then dominating the second, some seven-tenths up on his closest rival, he looked for the first time this season like a man who had finally hit the sweet spot jackpot and got the most from his machine.

“The car feels great, and the new engine is also great,” he said of the upgraded power unit that Mercedes had brought. “And we haven’t even opened it up yet.”

This is a crucial race as it marks the point where teams can update to their latest engines after doing the first seven events; each driver is allowed three engines for the 21 races and thus aims to make each last for seven at a time, but the upgraded unit that was due to be taken to Canada could not be run because of concerns over its ultimate reliability.

“What we have here is not the same as that power unit,” a Mercedes insider said. “It’s a 2.1 version of that, packed with more goodness. In other words, they had exploited the enforced delay to upgrade it even further. This entailed an extraordinary effort from engine designer Andy Cowell and his team in Brixworth as they prepared six engines – two for Mercedes, and two apiece for Force India and Williams.

A series of candid meetings had also helped to motivate people further after what many team members believe to have been, by their standards, a very ordinary race that left their lead driver only fifth in Canada, and in which he had lost the points lead to Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton explained that everyone is encouraged to offer constructive criticism by team boss Toto Wolff, so that issues and problems can be aired and addressed openly while simultaneously encouraging everyone to look at what steps they can take personally to do a better job.

Lewis Hamilton is pleased with his Mercedes (Getty Images)

There was one concern for Mercedes in the second session. Valtteri Bottas had run Hamilton close in the first, lapping only 0.150s slower, but was only seventh best in the second after stopping early as a water leak was investigated. A spokesman said that it had been cured, and that the Finn’s new powerplant had not been affected.

“This is an odd circuit,” Hamilton continued. “It’s very difficult to identify markers for your braking because of the design, but overall it’s been a good day.”

Canadian GP-winning title rival Vettel struggled, however, as Ferrari ended the day only fourth (Kimi Raikkonen) and fifth, behind the second- and third-placed Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, which were seven-tenths off the Mercedes.

“We’ve learned quite a bit and we changed the car for the better for the second session,” Ricciardo said. Vettel, however, was not so chirpy. “The car was quick,” the points leader said, “but I wasn’t able to be quick in it today. This is a tricky track, and we are not yet where we should be.”

Hamilton believes that one reason for that is that Ferrari weren’t running their ‘race’ fuel, a more potent brew that boost horsepower, and called upon fans to vote that each team ought to run the same standard of fuel on a Friday. He also counselled them to ask for softer tyre compounds, so that races feature more than one pit stop.

There was some hope for the countless fans who spent far too long in the huge traffic jams around the region. Frenchman Romain Grosjean put his Haas-Ferrari into sixth place, right behind the Ferraris, and Pierre Gasly made the top 10 for Toro Rosso in both sessions.

Meanwhile, the chaos outside the track could be eased on Saturday when the organisers open up all the car parks simultaneously and temporarily double the lines of traffic in the immediate vicinity.