Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton suffered terrible back pain due to the porpoising issue in the W13 at the Baku City Circuit.
Despite finishing P4 in the Azerbaijan GP, Lewis Hamilton revealed that this was the worst race ever after suffering back pain from porpoising.
He had a painful ride throughout the weekend and was concerned about making it through the race. Hamilton battled through the 51 laps of the Azerbaijan GP and finished fourth. Meanwhile, his teammate George Russell took the podium finish with P3 as the Ferrari suffered a double DNF.
The discomfort being faced by many drivers has led to discussions on whether F1’s new design regulations need to be altered.
Speaking after the race, Hamilton said, “This is the worst race ever. One of the most painful races I’ve experienced.”
“Toughest battle with a car I’ve experienced. So, yeah I’m glad it’s over. I can’t express the pain that you experience, particularly on the straight here. In the end, you’re just praying for it to end.”
“It is such a tough year. Once we fix this bouncing, we’re going to be right there in a race. We’re losing at least a second with bouncing, for sure,” Hamilton said.
“I’ll be at the factory tomorrow; we’ve got to have some good discussions and keep pushing.”
Also Read: F1 Twitter fumes at Fernando Alonso for being only driver not to oppose porpoising
Lewis Hamilton might not make it to Canada GP
Team boss Toto Wolff said that the amount of pain his drivers suffered today is beyond the norm.
“He’s really bad,” said Wolff. “We have just got to find a solution. At this stage, I think he is maybe the worst affected of all drivers. But pretty much everyone, as far as I understood from the drivers, said that something needs to happen.”
🗣️ “You’re just praying for it to end”
Lewis Hamilton was honest about how hard it was to drive through the pain on his back and whether adrenaline got him through! 👇 pic.twitter.com/fKhcRg2YMh
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 12, 2022
Talking about if the Briton would be able to make it to Canada, Wolff said, “Yeah, definitely. I haven’t seen him and haven’t spoken to him afterwards. But you can see this is not muscular anymore.”
“I mean, this goes properly into the spine and can have some consequences. I don’t think this is only Lewis’ issue,” added Wolff. “He’s the one that is probably worst affected. But generally, it also affects George and many others.
“The solution could be to have someone on reserve, which we anyway have at every race, to make sure that our cars are running.”
Also Read: Watch Lewis Hamilton struggle to walk due to back pain after Azerbaijan GP
