“The bouncing is crazy man,” Lewis Hamilton haunted again by porpoising issues at Monaco GP


“The bouncing is crazy man,” Lewis Hamilton haunted again by porpoising issues at Monaco GP

Lewis Hamilton is his W13 in Miami

We have seen Lewis Hamilton pull off a miracle in 2019 and it seems like he might have to pull one off again seeing that the porpoising is back. Mercedes have had a torrid time when it comes to dealing with this issue which has gone on to cost both the drivers dearly. We saw both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton being close to a second slower than the Ferrari and Red Bull on the long straight of Jeddah because of their porpoising issues.

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There were improvements in the car post Saudi Arabia but nothing seemed to have worked out for Lewis Hamilton while George Russell was grinding out the results despite the issues. Lewis Hamilton is already 28 points behind his team mate and we are just 6 races into the season. Knowing how fierce a competitor the seven time world champion is, this would not have gone down well with him.

But, Spanish GP looked like the weekend when the car seemed to have been behaving better and Lewis Hamilton looked more comfortable behind the wheel. He drove a mega race after a collision with Kevin Magnussen forcing him into an early pit stop. This made him rejoin at the back of the grid leaving him with a mammoth task at hand, which he eventually did finishing P5.

Also read: We’ll be looking to maximize every opportunity”: Toto Wolff expects great results from Mercedes in the races to come

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Lewis Hamilton complains of bouncing as Mercedes’ porpoising issues resurface

Lewis Hamilton at the start of the Miami GP
Lewis Hamilton at the start of the Miami GP

We thought that Spain should mark the resurgence of Mercedes but it seems like the issues are back to haunt them. Driving in FP1, both the drivers have faced the issues. Lewis Hamilton was heard complaining on the team radio: “It’s so bouncy out here man. I’m **** losing my mind.”

To be fair, Mercedes did warn us about it when James Vowles tempered the expectations saying, “”We have to temper our expectations. It was only at one track and a track that has suited our car for years. There is a lot for us to understand, so it would be wrong to say the porpoising issue is gone,” as reported by gpblog.

This would be a disaster for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes keeping in mind the kind of stellar weekend they had in Spain. This could be a major dent in their quest to get back to the top of the grid.

Also read: James Vowels’ reality check to Mercedes fans: “It would be wrong to say the ‘porpoising’ issue is gone”

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Also read: Lewis Hamilton does not feel like a ‘leader’ at Mercedes after a bizarre start to the season