I don’t want to see that again! Hamilton threatened not to enter the next race after the Azerbaijan GP. Was he right to complain?

After the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton threatened not to start the next race of this season, which will take place in Canada at the Montreal circuit. This was due to severe back pain caused by the bouncing of his monoposto. How did Hamilton himself comment?

Hamilton will eventually enter the next Grand Prix, which will be held in Canada at the Montreal circuit. After the Baku race, however, it looked like the opposite. The reason for this was the severe back pain caused by porpoising.

We have discussed how big the problem is and why porpoising can endanger the riders’ health in this article.

Hamilton complained about his car, or rather the aforementioned porpoising, throughout the race weekend, and even had to be helped out of the car after the race. And it was quite obvious that he wasn’t quite right.

Hamilton said afterwards that it was the most painful race of his racing career and that he never wanted to experience that again. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff subsequently said that the International Automobile Federation (FIA) should start doing something about the problem, which threatens drivers’ health.

However, Wolff’s arguments were almost immediately answered by Red Bull boss Christian Horner.

“You should never run a car that is not safe. Some teams have more trouble with porpoising, some have less, so it would be unfair to punish those who have done a very good job despite those who simply missed their technological target,” Horner said at a press conference, his words quoted by Motorsport.

“So there are means to ensure that porpoising is not on the car. But it’s at the expense of the car’s performance. So the easiest thing to do is to complain. Every team has a choice,” he added.

All the drivers, except one – Fernando Alonso – agreed that bouncing was a big problem. The legendary Spanish driver doesn’t see the accompanying phenomenon as too much of a problem.

Hamilton said afterwards that he had trouble sleeping after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and was experiencing a lot of back pain, so he was considering whether he would even start the next race in Canada. Moreover, Wolff backed up his words and it seemed that Mercedes was already looking for a replacement.

In the end, however, the seven-time champion will start the Canadian Grand Prix. “My back is a bit sore and bruised, but fortunately it’s nothing serious,” said Hamilton, whose words were again quoted by Motorsport.

“I had acupuncture and physiotherapy with Ang (Angela Cullen, Hamilton’s physiotherapist). We have to keep fighting. There’s no better time than now to pull together and we’re going to do it. I’ll be there this weekend, I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I wish everybody an amazing day and week,” he added.

However, despite these difficulties, the Mercedes driver managed to get a very respectable result, and therefore fourth place. His teammate George Russell finished third and recorded his third podium finish.

You can see the Drivers’ Championship standings as well as the Constructors’ Cup standings in the twitter post below.

Sources