Lewis Hamilton was in agony while he shouted “my back is killing me”After his Mercedes kept bouncing throughout the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Hamilton, a seven-time Formula One world champion, finished fourth in Baku behind George Russell and the Red Bulls. Hamilton had to deal with Hamilton’s car’s constant porpoising down straights, as he was unable to control the extreme bouncing.
Hamilton was in pain and shouted over the team radio. “Aaaargh my back is killing me!”as he had trouble with the car’s performance.
Although Porpoising has been a problem for many teams this season, it could be decreased by Hamilton’s Mercedes raising the ride height. This would not be good for the car’s performance.
Motorsport.comReport that the teams rejected the change to the rules to eliminate porpoising last year.
Russell warned that there could be a major incident at the race before Sunday’s grand prix.GPFans: “I think it’s just a matter of time before we see a major incident.
What can be done to eliminate porpoising in Formula One Please leave your comments below.
“A lot of us can barely keep the car in a straight line over these bumps. We’re going through these last two corners at 300 kilometres an hour, bottoming out. You can visibly see on the Tarmac how close these cars are running to the ground.
“Formula 2 are in the same position as well because they have got a similar philosophy and it’s unnecessary with the technology we have in today’s environment.
“It just seems unnecessary that we’re running a Formula 1 car at over 200 mph, millimetres from the ground and it’s a recipe for disaster.
“I don’t really know what the future holds but I don’t think that we can sustain this for three years or however long these regulations are in force for.”
Despite the bouncing of his car, Hamilton was able to move up from seventh to finish fourth, overtaking Pierre Gasly on the 44th lap to claim his best finish since the first race of the season in Bahrain.
Russell earned a podium finish, crossing the line in third after taking advantage of the two Ferraris being forced to retire. Max Verstappen extended his lead in the Drivers’ Championship with his fifth win of the season ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez.
After the race, Hamilton admitted he had to “”Bite down with your teeth” to get to the chequered flag.