Damon Hill believes that Mercedes still have a "chunk of time" to find if they are to put themselves in contention at the front of the pack. The Silver Arrows had one of their strongest weekends for some time at the Canadian Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a podium in third while George Russell was not far behind in fourth. Even though their speed was still down in comparison to their main rivals at the top of the standings – Red Bull and Ferrari – 1996 World Champion Hill thinks that the Silver Arrows just need to work a little harder to find it. Like many in the F1 world, Hill was happy to see Hamilton on the podium after what has been a very tough season to date. "I think if you actually look at the race pace, they're still a bit of a way off," Hill told Sky Sports . "They sometimes show pace in the race, then you don't know how much faster Max [Verstappen] can go if he had to and typically they tend to try and manage their tyres."
Hill: Hamilton putting on a brave face
The other thing Mercedes have going for them is that they have decent reliability, something that their rivals don't seem to have found as of yet. Hill can see how they are not pushing their cars as much as they could to ensure they reach the end of every race. Now they just need to increase their pace while keeping that same reliability to keep the smile on Hamilton's face, the former F1 driver believes. "They don't burn out their car as fast as they can unless they have to, so I would say Mercedes still have a chunk of time to find to be serious contenders," Hill added. "But clearly a very happy Lewis Hamilton, putting on a brave face in what has been a very difficult year after losing out on a possible eighth title last year."
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