“It’s a bit of a shame,” George Russell worried about safety with all the porpoising concerns

“It’s a bit of a shame,” George Russell worried about safety with all the porpoising concerns

George Russell

George Russell signed his contract with Mercedes during the 2021 season, when the team was dominating every other team and had only Red Bull as their competitor. However, after new regulations and aerodynamics of the cars for the 2022 season, a lot of surprises came for the teams, even for Mercedes, but not in a single way was that positive. Mercedes couldn’t cope up with the new demands of the car, and as a result, just like most teams on the grid, they suffered from a lot of porpoising, and were affected the worst from it. 

The apparent solution for the porpoising is raising the ride-heights of the cars. But this would also mean that there would be less downforce in each of those cars and would make them go much slower. Mercedes are already struggling with both, and if they had to decrease porpoising, they would have to compromise with the speed. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton already suffered its consequences at Baku, after the team pushed the car off the limits while setting up, which gave them a much better finish and pace, but at the same time Hamilton was in visible torturing pain because of all the bouncing going down the main straight.

Also read: Pierre Gasly is happy with FIA’s porpoising verdict: “I’m glad that they ​​took our complaints seriously”

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George Russell concerned about drivers’ health

Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton

Russell has managed to finish in the top 5 since the start of the season, every single time, and that earned him the nickname of Mr. Consistent. But now, the Briton is worried about the drivers and their health while driving. “It’s a bit of a shame to see performance prioritized over safety,” he stated, as Motorsport quoted. 

This comes in after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as even after knowing how bad the condition of porpoising was, the cars were still set-up for maximum pace, which could be extremely unsafe. 

George Russell currently stands 4th in the championship after scoring 99 points through the top 5 finishes and three P3 podiums until now. 

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