"We had George bouncing so much that he broke the stay on the floor" - Toto Wolff reveals Mercedes is slowing on the straights to escape porpoising

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff revealed that the W13 has to be deliberately slowed down in the straights to avoid the porpoising phenomenon. The Austrian revealed that the car is undriveable around the Imola circuit.

Speaking ahead of the Imola GP weekend, the Austrian explained the bouncing on both their driver’s cars saying:

“Lewis’ [Hamilton] porpoising is not the worst actually. We had George [Russell] bouncing so much that he broke the stay on the floor. We have to lift on the straights. I have never experienced bouncing like this in my life. It’s undriveable.”

Despite Lewis Hamilton being on the back foot compared to his team-mate George Russell in four sessions of the Imola weekend so far, Wolff revealed that the seven-time world champion had experienced the least porpoising in his car. The Austrian also revealed that the porpoising on Russell’s car was so extreme that it broke the central plank, or 'stay', on the underfloor.

Comparing their bouncing to that of Ferrari, Wolff said:

“Their porpoising looks a little bit different to ours. Our frequency looks higher and the main difference is that when they hit the brakes the car stabilises and ours does not.”

Although the Ferraris have also experienced the porpoising phenomenon, it has not altered their overall pace or hurt their performance. Wolff revealed that the frequency of porpoising on the Mercedes is more and cannot be reduced despite braking, which can be done on the Ferrari.

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Mercedes still hopeful of fighting for a championship in 2022

Despite the deficit in performance, the Mercedes boss believes their team can fight for the championship in 2022 if they manage to unleash the full potential of their car. Considering the margins in the lead in both performance and pace, however, it might be an unrealistic goal, according to the Silver Arrows team chief.

Looking optimistically at the season ahead, Toto Wolff said:

“I think if we can unlock the potential of this car then we can fight for the Championship. But when you see the gaps like we have seen today then [that target] is totally unrealistic. But we just keep continuing on and trying to understand [the issues].”

Apart from the porpoising issues, the team also seems to be struggling to optimize their tires in the temperature window in Imola’s cold weather. In qualifying, both drivers seemed to lack grip, while in the sprint, both finished outside the top 10.