The word of the 2022 F1 season is probably ‘ porpoising ‘ or ‘ porpoise ‘, that phenomenon of ground effect cars with which single-seaters bounce sharply at high speeds.
Mercedes has suffered from this problem from the beginning, and although it seemed that they had solved it with the updates to the Spanish GP, it returned in Monaco and has intensified this weekend in Baku.
George Russell said on Saturday that it was only a matter of time before there was a big physical problem with the rebound, and Hamilton complained about it over and over on the radio throughout the weekend.
The worst came in Sunday’s race, when the Briton opened the radio to ask for a reaction, from the FIA or his team. After crossing the checkered flag, in fourth position, the seven-time champion got out of the car very sore, bent over and touching his back, leaving slowly.
(See how Hamilton got out of the car. Click here if the video does not appear)
When asked about it in the media ‘corralito’, he admitted that only the emotion of playing the points helped him feel less pain.
“Yeah, that’s the only thing that helps. Just pushing, gritting your teeth from the pain and adrenaline. I can’t express the pain you experience, especially on the straight here.”
Lewis Hamilton admitted that the race was long for him: “In the end you’re just praying for it to finish. But we were in such a good position, third and fourth, which was a great result for the team.”
Regarding the result of the Azerbaijan GP, he praised the team, but asked to end the porpoising that, according to him, makes them lose more than a second per lap: “The team did a great job with the strategy.”
“Once we fix this rebound, we’ll be there in the race, but we were losing, without a doubt, more than a second just because of the rebound. Or at least a second. I’ll be at the factory tomorrow, we have a lot of talking and keep pushing.”
On Saturday, after qualifying, Hamilton revealed that during free practice the day before he was unable to do as many laps as he would have liked due to the pain: “Honestly, we hit the bottom so much at the end of the straight that I couldn’t finish my long run, my back was a mess.
And he praised his physiotherapist, the eternal Angela Cullen : “Thank God I have Angela to do a physio session every night and acupuncture.”
Hamilton’s photos at the 2022 F1 Azerbaijan GP
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
