"It's difficult, for sure" - Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes 'may have' gone wrong in the 2022 F1 season

Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes may have “gone wrong” in their interpretations of the 2022 regulations after a dismal Imola GP performance saw the Briton finish in P13.

The Silver Arrows had hoped to help Lewis Hamilton finally secure his eighth world championship this season but have so far struggled to match championship protagonists Red Bull and Ferrari. Speaking to RN365 following the Imola GP, Hamilton said:

"Earlier in the year, [when] we were in Barcelona, a question was put to me like, 'What happens if you get it wrong?' And [I said], 'Well, we don't do that, we don't get things wrong. We're World Champions'. But the fact is, with all the possibilities out there, we may have."

Mercedes have dominated F1 since the start of the turbo-hybrid era in 2014, weathering numerous regulatory changes to win eight consecutive constructors titles and seven consecutive driver titles.

However, with their “no-pod” design this year, they seem to have backed themselves into a corner. So far this season, they have been unable to fix the issues plaguing their cars, with “porpoising” being the most significant of them.

However, Lewis Hamilton has expressed solidarity with the team that helped him achieve six of his seven world titles, saying:

"It's difficult, for sure. But I'm not the only one in the team, right? We're all feeling the pain, we're all riding this together, and we win, and we lose as a team, so we are doing the best we can with what we have.”

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George Russell “physically struggling” with Mercedes’ violent bouncing

George Russell has revealed that he experienced severe back and chest pain after the Imola GP due to the Mercedes W13’s violent porpoising.

Russell has called for the team to find an immediate solution to the issue, saying it is unsustainable in the long run. Speaking to Insider following the Imola GP, he said:

"The bouncing, it really takes your breath away. It's the most extreme I've ever felt it. This is the first weekend I've truly been struggling with my back, and almost like chest pains from the severity of the bouncing."

He added:

“I really hope we find a solution and I hope every team struggling with the bouncing finds a solution, because it's not sustainable for the drivers to continue.”

Among the worst affected by the problem on the grid, Mercedes is having to increase the ride height of their car to control the issue. However, increasing the ride height costs performance, meaning the team will have to tread a fine line between driver comfort and car performance, unless they bring a fix for the issue.