Mercedes still needs “a lot of lap time” to fight for F1 wins

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell helped Mercedes to its best result of the season so far as they finished second and third behind championship leader Max Verstappen in the French Grand Prix.

But although Hamilton came home just 10 seconds adrift of the winning Red Bull after the 53-lap race, Mercedes said it remained realistic about just how big the deficit was to the front.

With Verstappen having been managing his tyres and not under much pressure from behind, Mercedes…