Mercedes are concerned that Lewis Hamilton may be unfit for the Canadian race next weekend after the seven-time Formula One World Champion suffered severe back pain after being hit by a bouncer during the Sunday Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton says he has never felt so much pain when driving a car in Formula One as he did at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, thanks to his Mercedes car’s aggressive bounce. The scraping created such an intense sensation of vibrations that Lewis Hamilton was visibly pained following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, revealing afterwards he was suffering severe back pain from a weekend with his Mercedes.
On the eve of Sunday’s race in Azerbaijan, Hamilton’s teammate George Russell, who finished third, called the new breed of Formula One cars dangerous and a recipe for disaster. Although driving the exact vehicle, Hamilton’s teammate George Russell did not seem to have any complaints at all at the end as he celebrated a third podium finish in Mercedes colours. Hamiltons teammate George Russell, whose car finished one spot ahead of him in third, was leading the driver’s marketing campaign in an effort to convince the Formula 1 governance body to move forward with changes to the car in order to remove the float.
Hamilton finished fourth at Baku but was left struggling to get off the back of his W13 car because of the effects of the acute twitching, the bouncing phenomenon which has dogged Mercedes throughout the season. Despite struggling at times this season to find the pace, McLaren has been amongst the teams that have been the least affected by bounces or porpoising, but the Baku city circuit saw the Australian take the brunt of it. Lewis Hamilton started seventh on the grid and finished fourth, just behind teammate George Russell, but was visibly uncomfortable following the tough race at Baku, with the Mercedes W13 suffering severe porpoising throughout the weekend.
“Yes, absolutely” when asked during the media session separately whether he was concerned Lewis Hamilton‘s attendance at Montreal could be compromised but clarified he had raised that concern before seeing Hamilton after the race, nor had he discussed the matter with him. Daniel Ricciardo, who produced a better race performance to take eighth place over McLaren teammate Lando Norris, expressed sympathy for the driver following the race. Red Bulls Max Verstappen dominated the final stages of the 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix to claim victory and expand his world championship lead, while Ferrari pairing Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz both suffered engine issues and had to retire from Baku.
