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Lewis Hamilton believes he has never had to deal with a more problematic car in his F1 career and drive with such physical discomfort. The seven-time world champion revealed that he has had muscular issues and was luckily saved from any spinal disk-related injuries caused by the bouncing on his car.
Speaking to Channel 4, the Briton lamented saying:
“I’m dying for the day I get in the car and we don’t have bouncing. There’s been times when the bouncing has been so heavy that you have to lift down the straight. This was a challenge of a different kind. In the race, you can’t lift. You’re thinking of the points for the team, and how much every step in the championship means for all those that you work with. And so you just grit and take it.”
He continued:
“It’s the first time in my racing career that I’ve looked at a set-up and decided to just live with a problem. That’s an unusual scenario. It took me three weeks after to feel good again but thankfully it was nothing disc-related, it was all muscle. There’s been a lot of needles stabbed in my back.”
The the Mercedes W13's challenging situation due to porpoising also caused Lewis Hamilton severe pain after the Azerbaijan GP, but he later revealed that fortunately his back problem was muscular and unrelated to his spinal disk.
Lewis Hamilton hopes the rules change following the French GP
In the background, there has been a discussion about teams such as Red Bull and Ferrari that might have flexed the bottom planks of the floor than they were allowed to in order to contain the bouncing and/or porpoising on their cars. Lewis Hamilton is hoping for the rules to change and is interested to see how it will affect the performance of the grid.
Commenting on the plank issue on the cars, the Briton said:
“I’m praying every day. I definitely have hope that we can improve and I know everyone is working so hard. There are also some things going on in the background with floors, all sorts of things. It will be interesting to see how that affects everybody.”
With two third-place podiums in two consecutive races, the Briton is definitely motivated to perform. However, he is still running outside the top five in the drivers' championship despite closing the gap to his teammate George Russell.
