"It really takes your breath away" - Mercedes' George Russell suffering from back and chest pains due to 'extreme' porpoising

George Russell has revealed that he's starting to face physical discomfort because of the porpoising effect of the car
George Russell has revealed that he's starting to face physical discomfort because of the porpoising effect of the car

George Russell put together another strong performance this weekend as the Mercedes driver finished the Imola GP in fourth position. After the race, Russell revealed that the porpoising effect is starting to get too extreme, causing physical pain to the driver.

He said:

“When the car is in the right window and the tyres are in the right window, the car - except for the bouncing - feels really good to drive. But the bouncing: it really takes your breath away. It’s the most extreme I’ve ever felt it. 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. This is the first weekend I’ve truly been struggling with my back, and almost like chest pains from the severity of the bouncing. It’s just what we have to do to go and do the fastest laps.”

The Mercedes W13 has seen more pronounced porpoising than the other cars on the grid, with the team terming its eradication as 'priority number one'.


George Russell had a flashback of his battle with Valtteri Bottas last season

George Russell fended off Valtteri Bottas at the end of the Imola GP as the Finn closed down a gap of over 10 seconds to the Mercedes. Speaking about the end of the race, Russell admitted to having flashbacks of the battle between the duo at the same venue last season. The Briton said:

“Definitely I reminisced a little bit over last year. We had an issue at the pitstop, we couldn’t get the front wing-flap in the car and it was just massively understeery and that front right was just falling to bits, it was so far out of bed with the set-up. So I just had to manage it and be ready at the end to defend. This track here is such an amazing circuit, so much character, but it’s just impossible to race. Especially in these mixed conditions, one overtaking opportunity, one dry line, there’s nothing you can do.”

George Russell has been the source of ultimate consistency this season. The driver has finished inside the top 5 in every race so far this year and currently leads Lewis Hamilton, his teammate at Mercedes, by 21 points.

Hamilton, on the other hand, had a poor race as he got stuck in the DRS train and could not make any kind of progress through the field.


Also Check Out :-F1 Standings 2022

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Edited by Anurag C
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