As a prelude to the ninth date of the 2022 calendar of the Formula 1where the Canadian Grand Prix will take place in Montreal, Lewis Hamilton’s present worries for everyone in the atmosphere of the highest category of motorsport.

So far the pilot of mercedes He only managed to get on the podium once. It was in the season premiere, in Bahrain, where he reached third place. After that, he didn’t play in a race again and his position in the Riders’ Championship is rare compared to recent years: running in 6th place with 62 points88 behind the leader Max Verstappenwith whom he lost last year’s title in the last round.

After F1’s first official day of action at the circuit Gilles Villeneuvethe seven-time world champion was furious with the performance of the car and pointed out the physical problems caused by the “porpoising”the rebound effect generated by the single-seaters during this campaign, and that the FIA ​​has already started a review process to resolve it by modifying the technical regulations.

In practice in Canada, in which he finished 13th, more than a second behind Verstappen, the fastest in Practice 1, Hamilton told his track engineer as he radioed around the track: “This car is undriveable”. And once out of the Mercedes, he went public with his criticisms.

“For me it was a disaster, the car is getting worse. I get more and more unhappy when I get down to it, we work hard, but that’s the way it is. It’s this year’s car, we have to deal with it, do our best and make a better car next year,” Lewis told the network. sky sports. And I add: “The car is very bad”.

On the other hand, Hamilton also pointed out health problems caused by the bouncing of his car so far this year. And when asked about micro concussionswas candid:I have certainly had more headaches in recent months but I have not consulted specialists on this subject. I don’t take it too seriously at the moment, I just take painkillers. I don’t think it has anything to do with age, just because the beatings can be very hard.”

“When you experience 10Gs on the rebound, which I experienced on the last run, is a heavy load on the lower and upper part of your neck. I can’t stress enough how important health is to us. I think we have an amazing sport, but safety has to be the most important thing. I definitely feel ‘shorter’ this week. My (spinal) discs are not in their best shape right now. It’s not good for longevity. There are things we can do and improve for all riders. There is no need to suffer long-term injuries,” added the 44 from Mercedes.

Finally, Hamilton mentioned how difficult Friday’s day on the Canadian circuit was for him and his teammate. “It was a Friday like any other for us. We tried different things, an experimental floor on my side of the garage that didn’t work. Nothing we’ve tried on this car seems to work. George (Russell) and I try different setups, which one day seem to work and the next it doesn’t.

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