Wolff wants to remain humble: "Just six or seven tenths short"

Toto Wolff could not have seen the double podium finish at the French Grand Prix coming and so there were only happy faces in the Mercedes garage on Sunday afternoon. However, the Brackley-based team boss is keen to stress that they are not content with this and are really aiming for victories later in the season. This is in any case a good first step.

"We need to stay humble. Our car is just not good at the moment to fight with the guys in front; I'm always a little bit pessimistic because I need to be," Wolff began to tell Sky Sports. Mercedes will not settle for second and third place. "We're just lacking six or seven-tenths to the leaders and whilst we have stabilised in the race and Verstappen hadn't been gaining more ground, he was also looking after his tyres."

At Mercedes, they return home with 33 points. Never before in 2022 have so many points been scored in a weekend (barring the GPs with sprint races). Wolff can therefore be nothing but satisfied for now. "Overall the team effort was great, the drivers did a really good job. George was clever and fast, Lewis the lion who was just always there. We're doing the maximum at the moment on race day."

Mercedes not very far away

Mercedes' W13 has been incredibly reliable this season and that has already earned the team several podiums. In total the team has now scored 270 points in 12 Grands Prix. Ferrari are on 314 points, a lead that (especially given their reliability problems) is not too big. Red Bull Racing are well out of sight of Mercedes with 396 points.