Lewis Hamilton faces ongoing challenges with Mercedes F1’s persistent car bouncing issue, hindering performance in the new ground effect era.
For the third consecutive season, Lewis Hamilton asserts that Mercedes F1 has yet to eliminate the bouncing of their Formula 1 car amidst the new ground effect era.
The team started the season with high hopes due to a new car concept closer to that of Red Bull.
The seven-time world champion qualified 8th in Saudi Arabia, stating that the bounce – the aerodynamic phenomenon also known as “porpoising” – has returned.
“It’s a huge challenge. We’ve tried every tool at our disposal. We can’t get rid of it.”
“We’ve changed everything, just as we did in 2023. It’s frustrating to think this continues and we’re still battling with it, because I think we have a good package.”
“We have a good car aside from the bouncing. If we could eliminate that, the car is really much better than last year in all areas. It’s just that it’s causing us really big problems.”
“In the second and third sectors, we can be closer in some corners, and in all the other turns, in the first section, it’s the same as last year.”
Team boss Toto Wolff stated that George Russell was less affected in the sister car.
“Lewis tried increasing the downforce to see what it would do, and the bouncing increased a bit. And when you don’t have confidence in the high-speed corners, you lack speed.”
“That’s our weak point. In corners 6, 7, and 8, we just don’t have enough speed.”
Hamilton confirms: “When I see Max (Verstappen) going through these corners, his Red Bull is stable. We need to do the same. We’ve had this for three years now.”
“I really struggled with the car from Thursday, then in FP3, I was much more satisfied with the car with a bigger wing, losing two tenths on the straight but gaining some stability and was much happier.”
“I thought we were going to keep that in qualifying, but unfortunately, the bouncing is still there, and it’s very hard to get through the first sector. That’s why we’re so slow in the end.”
Hamilton’s Frustration Over Persistent Bounce. Hamilton’s Frustration Over Persistent Bounce
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