Lewis Hamilton finished the race with a limp after getting out of his Mercedes at the end of the 2022 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with back pains brought on by the rebound that comes from the famous porpoising .
After the event, the seven-time champion driver said he couldn’t explain how much pain he had to endure during the race, as he was forced to clench his teeth at times to survive his agony.
“I was just holding on and gritting my teeth from the pain, and the adrenaline [helped],” he told Sky .
Toto Wolff said Hamilton ‘s soreness after the race showed that the problems his driver was experiencing were beyond normal, and he expressed some concern about what the Briton is experiencing.
“It’s a bad thing,” Wolff said. “A solution has to be found. Right now, I think he is perhaps the most affected driver of all. But almost everyone, from what I have seen, has said that he suffers.
Asked if there was any concern that Hamilton ‘s pain might even keep him out of next weekend’s race in Canada, Wolff said: “Yes, of course. I haven’t seen him and I haven’t talked to him after [ of the race], but you can see that it is not a muscular problem, it is something of the spine and it can have consequences”, he explained.
Mercedes always has one of its reserve drivers at the races, which is usually one of its Formula E drivers, Stoffel Vandoorne or Nyck de Vries, and Wolff said it made sense to have someone present in case Hamilton ran into trouble in Montreal.
“I don’t think it’s just a Lewis problem,” Wolff said. “He’s probably the one that’s affected the most, but overall it’s also affecting George and a lot of others.”
“The solution could be to always have a reserve, which we already have at every race anyway, to make sure our cars are on track,” he concluded.
