Photo: LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd
It’s obvious that Mercedes’ issues with bouncing/porpoising have never gone away. In fact, they were on full display at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix this past weekend, with both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell complaining of back pain after practice and qualifying.
Yet, it was Hamilton who seems to have suffered most because of this excessive bouncing, complaining over team radio during the race. His pain was so bad, team principal Toto Wolff felt the need to apologize to Hamilton over the radio for this situation.
“I was just holding and biting down on my teeth due to the pain, and the adrenaline [helped], I cannot express the pain that you experience, particularly on the straight here,” said the seven-time F1 world champion during an interview with Sky Sports F1, as per Motorsport.
Hamilton was also visibly in pain when he exited the car after the race, climbing out slowly and then walking away gingerly while holding his back.
“At the end you are just praying for it to end. But we were in such a good position still, third and fourth, a great result for the team. The team did a great job with the strategy.”
The British driver went on to say that because of porpoising, himself and Russell were both losing around a second per lap, which is enormous.
Russell meanwhile echoed his teammate’s comments, saying that he was pleased to finish P3 in Baku and that he’s sure Mercedes will eventually figure out how to curb these bouncing issues in the long term.
“We have just got to deal with it [bouncing] and as drivers accept there is not going to be any short-term. But there are conversations going on about the long-term future of these regulations. We have got intelligent people in this sport so I’m sure we will find a solution.”
If you’ve missed yesterday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, you can check out our live coverage of the race right here.
“I was just holding and biting down on my teeth due to the pain, and the adrenaline [helped], I cannot express the pain that you experience, particularly on the straight here,” said the seven-time F1 world champion during an interview with Sky Sports F1, as per Motorsport.
Hamilton was also visibly in pain when he exited the car after the race, climbing out slowly and then walking away gingerly while holding his back.
“At the end you are just praying for it to end. But we were in such a good position still, third and fourth, a great result for the team. The team did a great job with the strategy.”
The British driver went on to say that because of porpoising, himself and Russell were both losing around a second per lap, which is enormous.
Russell meanwhile echoed his teammate’s comments, saying that he was pleased to finish P3 in Baku and that he’s sure Mercedes will eventually figure out how to curb these bouncing issues in the long term.
“We have just got to deal with it [bouncing] and as drivers accept there is not going to be any short-term. But there are conversations going on about the long-term future of these regulations. We have got intelligent people in this sport so I’m sure we will find a solution.”
If you’ve missed yesterday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, you can check out our live coverage of the race right here.
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