Lewis Hamilton returned to the pits shortly after heading out during FP1 of the Belgian Grand Prix because of an old problem resurfacing. The Briton also complained about the same on the Mercedes team radio.
He said, “I’ve got to come in. The bouncing is really bad.” After hearing the 39-year-old’s message to his race engineer, The Race’s Gary Anderson expressed concern about the setup Mercedes has opted for at Spa this weekend.
Anderson said, “The fact Mercedes has adjusted its diffuser roof, floor edge, and beam wing for Spa causes me concern as this could very easily increase underflow airflow separation problems at high speed. That’s not a great asset, especially at this track.”
: Charles Leclerc is optimistic Ferrari can return to contention for wins once they solve the persistent bouncing issue affecting their car. Despite recent struggles, Leclerc believes that eliminating this problem will significantly boost their performance.#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/fgog8cNmIJ
— F1 Naija (@f1_naija) July 26, 2024
Although fewer teams are facing the issue of porpoising this season, Ferrari did face it last weekend in Hungary. However, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has revealed that his side has solved the problem of bouncing coming into this weekend in Belgium.
What is porpoising? Hamilton suffered the worst of it last year
When a driver complains about porpoising, they mean that their car is bouncing on its suspension. This is a prominent concern in the ground-effects era as most teams set up their cars as close to the ground as possible.
Therefore, increasing the height of the cars could reduce the concerns of porpoising. However, that could lead to other troubles such as a lower downforce. Therefore, teams need to find the optimum balance when it comes to the height of their cars and the extent to which they are ready to lose performance.
Mercedes believed they had tackled the issue of porpoising coming into this season. However, Hamilton’s latest remarks on the team radio seem to suggest that their old demons might have returned.
The Briton himself suffered the worst of porpoising last year when he complained about severe back pain. Hamilton will now hope that Mercedes can get on top of this issue before he gets back in the car for Saturday’s third practice session and the all-important qualifying session.
