After seeing the checkered flag at the 2022 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was visibly affected in the back by the strong porpoising he suffered aboard the Mercedes W13. The British driver explained that “he was praying” for the race to finish due to these blows that he received so repeatedly, even the boss of his team, Toto Wolff , insisted that he might not be at the next appointment in Canada due to physical problems, although later the pilot himself demonstrated it.
The head of the Silver Arrows was in Baku all weekend expressing concern about the bouncing effect of new generation cars, revealing to Sky Formel 1 that all the drivers had met to discuss this theme.
During that meeting, almost all the members of the grid agreed that solutions to porpoising had to be found, except for one: “Everyone was on the same page regarding the problem, except one, Fernando Alonso,” said Wolff.
Despite the fact that the Spaniard has become the driver with the longest career in the history of Formula 1 after surpassing Michael Schumacher (21 years, 3 months and 1 day) and that he could become the greatest awards he has disputed in Italy adding more races than Kimi Raikkonen (350), it seems that he is one of the fittest in current Formula 1.
With the age of 41 just around the corner (July 29), the two-time world champion in the highest category of motorsport had no setbacks to withstand these blows on the single-seaters, while others like Daniel Ricciardo have complained .
“It took me a lot of work, it was painful,” said the Australian after the race in Baku. “It’s like being dribbled by a professional basketball player when he gets the ball low and dribbles, like being dribbled by Stephen Curry.”
These statements show how difficult it is to support porpoising , and many have asked the FIA to review the rules to prevent this from going any further, like Toto Wolff himself, who would see how Mercedes benefits and thus gain performance in his car.
“You have to discuss it, I think the drivers should meet with each other, and I think from what I’ve heard they’ve already done that to say: is this a problem for us, are we going to have to deal with some rules for the next few years? years that are going to be physically painful for us?” And if they come to the conclusion that it is, I think the drivers will come with a clear statement, that will be the next step.”
Asked if a day of testing for all the teams would solve the problems , the Mercedes boss said: “I imagine that with a day or two of testing, we would make a big step, but it is what it is. “.
“That is the limitation for everyone, and I think we have to approach the weekend from a more experimental position. At the moment we are not in the fight for victory on our own merits, we are behind the best, and we only have to face those sessions with an eye toward understanding the problem,” Toto Wolff said.