Lewis Hamilton revealed that nothing much has changed in Canada, as he still struggled with his Mercedes W13, that goes flying with one touch of the kerbs.
The seven-time Formula 1 Champion had nothing positive to say about his Friday in Montreal, where he was eighth fastest in FP1, but dropped down to 13th in FP2.
He revealed that all the team’s efforts, including a new floor for the W13 have been in vain, as it remained as vicious as ever around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
“It was pretty much like every Friday, experimenting with lots of things,” Hamilton said in Mercedes Friday media brief.
“We tried a new floor on my car this morning which didn’t really work and it seems a lot of things we try on this car struggle to work.
“We experimented with very different set ups on the two cars in FP2 just to try and see if one way works and one way doesn’t,” he revealed.
The Mercedes W13 is unhappy regardless of the changes
“Whatever we do on this car to improve it just makes it more unhappy but we have to keep working, it is what it is. One touch of the kerbs here and the car goes flying, it’s so stiff and here in Montreal, you really need to ride the kerbs.
“It’s not the Montreal that I’m used to and that I’ve driven throughout my career, it’s the worst I’ve felt any car here so I’m hoping we make some solid progress overnight,” the Briton revealed.
“You are putting on a momentous fight just to keep it out of the wall, you’re catching a car that’s jumping, it definitely keeps you on edge – we raised the car but it didn’t make any real difference,” Hamilton pointed out.
On the topic of raising the ride height, Mercedes have been in the midst of the latest F1 controversy, which is the FIA’s decision to monitor and clamp down on the bouncing of the 2022 cars.
Mercedes, Hamilton, and his teammate George Russell have been accused of raising the topic from a safety perspective to distract from their woes with their 2022 Silver Arrow, something Hamilton was questioned about in Friday’s media sessions.
At least one driver in every team spoke about bouncing
“It was always interesting seeing people’s perspectives and opinions in different lights,” he said. “Obviously in front of you it’s one thing and another in the background, sometimes people say different things. But ultimately, I think safety is the most important thing.
“I think there’s at least one driver in every team has spoken on it and I don’t think it’s going to change a huge amount but I think there is a lot of work to be done and it’s positive that the FIA are working towards improving it, because we have this car for the next few years.
“So it’s not about coping with the bouncing for the next four years, it’s about completely getting rid of it and fixing it so that the future drivers, all of us, don’t have back problems moving forwards,” Hamilton explained.
Hamilton also revealed that he may not have passed the FIA’s extraction test in Baku, which requires a driver to be able to get out of his car and fix the steering wheel back in ten second.
“I don’t think so at that time,” was his response to a question on the matter. “No, it was excruciatingly painful at the time, so I’m just grateful I was able to get out.
“But yeah, definitely not at the speed that you’re supposed to be,” the Mercedes driver maintained.