Lewis Hamilton's eyeball-popping concerns see no solution as Mercedes fear Baku 'might present some similar challenges' to Monaco

Lewis Hamilton's severe porpoising issues may not be resolved in Baku, claims Mercedes' director of trackside engineering Andy Shovlin. Given its similarities to Monaco's iconic track, Baku's street circuit might be yet another bouncy challenge for the Silver Arrows.

Hamilton had another disappointing outing in his W13 in Monaco, finishing P8 at the end of the race. Meanwhile, his younger, less experienced teammate George Russell continued his streak of top-five finishes in 2022. Despite showing race-winning pace in Barcelona, the seven-time world champion experienced terrible porpoising all weekend long in Monaco. Lewis Hamilton also had a frustrating tussle with his former teammate and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, with the Spaniard coming out successful in defending from the Briton all race-long.

While Hamilton is certainly looking forward to the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix to catch up on world championship points, Andy Shovlin fears more porpoising for the Briton. The British engineer said:

“Baku might present some similar challenges. We are working on areas though to try and improve the ride, try and be able to run the car a bit closer to its optimum window. But we are well aware that in addition to adding base performance to the car, we’ve got to make it work over a wider range of circuits. So, these are all things that we are busy with in preparation for Baku but also longer-term because there are other challenging tracks that will come up.”

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Lewis Hamilton needs to have confidence in his car, claims Mercedes engineer

Mercedes aerodynamicist Philipp Brändle claims that Lewis Hamilton needs to have confidence in the car he drives to find stellar performances. Brändle has spent six years plying his trade with the Silver Arrows and has seen the seven-time world champion operate firsthand on his way to multiple world championships.

Hamilton has struggled to find pace in his W13, while his teammate George Russell has consistently appeared in the top-5 at every Grand Prix so far in 2022 in the same car. Speaking in an interview with speedweek.com, Brändle said:

“Lewis [Hamilton] needs to have confidence in the car, which is very important to him. He’s not like [Michael] Schumacher and doesn’t have the technical background. But he can feel the car particularly well.”

Now, with further porpoising expected in Baku, fans of the Briton can only hope for a decent points finish for the world champion. Since there is no real-life data on how the 2022 cars perform on the iconic street track, however, strong performances are not off the cards for Mercedes just yet.