1. Will Mercedes hit back?

It was a disastrous t༒wo races for Mercedes as it surrendered t💫he lead of both championships. 

In both Monte Carlo and Baku, Mercedes simply didn’t have the pace to beat Red Bull, however, uncharacteristic errors from the team compounded a miserable pair of races for the reigning wo🐈rld champions.

At the Monaco Grand Prix, a botched pitstop cost Valtteri 🍃Bottas a podium while Lewis Hamilton could only finish seventh after struggling 🦹for pace all weekend. 

Hamilton should have won in Baku, but an uncharact🐻eristic error meant he was unable to capitalise on Max Verstappen’s earlier retirement after suffering a tyre blowout. 

Thus, Red Bull has opened up a 26-꧃point advantage in the constructors’ championship, leaving Mercedes to openly admit it is curre꧙ntly not operating at the level “it takes to win championships”. 

The good news for Mercedes is that the run of street venues is over as F1 heads to the Circuit Paul Ricard in France before a double💞-header in Austria.

Hamilton dominated the French Grand Prix from pole position ๊in 2018 and 2019, securing a 1-2 finish in the most recent race at Paul Ricard.

Getting the ⛦tyres into the window proved to be the main st💯icking point for Mercedes as street tracks like Baku lack any high-speed or high load corners that help the tyres to get up to temperature quickly.

France is a more ‘traditional’ track layout with a combination of high-speed and medium-speed♓ corners, which in theory should help Mercedes with its tyre issues. 

Mercedes shou🍌ld return to form in France, but we thought tha𒆙t would be the case for Baku.

2. Can Bottas save his season?

Bottas has endured his worst start to a season since joining Mercedes in 2017, and while it hasn’t been entirelyꦏ his fault, the Finn has to return to form in the upcoming triple-header.

The Finn was robbed of a guaranteed podium in Monaco but his performance across the Azerbaijan GP weekend was arguably the worst of his career, struggling for pace throu﷽ghout.&nb⭕sp;

With Sergio P✨erez looking like he has finally adapted to the Red Bull RB16B, taking his first victory for the team last time out in Baku, Mercedes will be relying on Bottas to assist its push in the constructors’ championship, while being a useful pawn against Verstappen in Hamilton’s pursuit of the driꦆvers’ championship.

If the latest rumours are to be believed, he is on his way out of the team in favour of Russell but Bottas will know he’s fighting💮 for his F1 career with limited competitive seats available on the grid f🐷or 2022.

If Bottas is indeed dropped for next season, Mercedes will have to be wary of how it handles its second✤ driver and ensure it doesn’t suffer as Ferrari did with Sebastian Vꦚettel with having a disillusioned, unmotivated driver on its hands.

The good news for Bottas is that Mercedes loves the Circuit Paul Ricard and the Finn himself has 💧an immense record at the Red Bull Ring, which hosts the Styrian and Austrian Grands Prix.

3. A true gauge of Ferrari’s progress

One of the biggest talking points from F1’s run🃏 of street circui🀅ts was the form of Ferrari.

Charles ܫLeclerc scored back-to-back pole positions, surprising everyone.

Sainz confirmed Ferrari’s impressive turn of pace in Monaco with second after Lecleꦺrc was unable to 🌳take to the start following his crash in the dying moments in Q3.

Leclerc didn’t have the ra🦹ce pace in Baku to maintain a podium, although still came away with fourth.

Team boss Mattia Binotto doesn’t believe it is a true representation ofও Ferrari’s true pace.

“I think obviously th🦋ere are two cars ahead of u🍒s [Red Bull and Mercedes] which are still stronger, no doubt,” Binotto said.

“It was great to have pole position both in Monaco and here in Baku, but I don’t think that is ref𒀰lecting our true performance overall. I think there are two cars which are stronger.”

Ferrari leads McLaren by just two points in the race for third in the constructors’ championship and the Italian marquee will be hoping it can c♌arry some of its form into this weekend’s French GP.

4.  Is the Vettel ‘of old’ truly back?

Sebastian Vettel 🐟was back to his best in Moꦡnaco and Baku as he propelled himself up into ninth in the drivers’ championship.

Before Monaco, Vettel hadn’t scored a point leading to question whether the four-time championꦫ still has what it takes to compete at this level.

The German hit back spectacularly in 🐲Monaco with an impressive overcut allowing hi🧸m to get ahead of Pierre Gasly and Hamilton for fifth.

Similarly, a l🍎ong first stint in Azerbaijan moved him up the order before overtaking Gasly and Leclerc for four♕th on track.

Vettel ultimately 🅺scored his and Aston Martin’s first podium of the se✤ason, inheriting second after Verstappen’s tyre failure and Hamilton’s mistake at the red flag restart. 

Like Ferrari, Aston Martin’s upturn is probably circuit-related but it doesn’t take away from Vettel’s two recent stunning performances. 

5. Another Paul Ricard snoozefest?

The꧙ Circuit Paul Ricard isn’t top of🦩 fans’ list of F1 circuits with its last two grands prix being snoozefests.

The ✤track layout itself does lend itself to ওsome opportunities with the long Mistral Straight a prime opportunity to overtake. 

The sampl꧅e size is very small so it would be unfair to completely write off this French circuit.

A competitive battle between Hamilton and Verstappen at the front; a late Safety Car or some rain could easily c🔥hange fans’ perceptions.

For this year’s race, the cir▨cuit has undergone an extensive resurfacing and reprofiling pr♏ogramme which has consequently seen the reprofiling of a number of corners. 

The changes will not only improve the drainage but likely pose more of a cha𝔉llenge to drivers and thus leading to potentially more battling on track.

Conversely, the new track surface will make the circuit smoother and potentially easier to drive with fewer bumps under braking a♎nd so on.