Formula 1 Azerbaijan GP
Wolff concerned Hamilton’s back pain could put him out of Canadian GP
Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff fears Lewis Hamilton’s back pain from porpoising could yet have "consequences" for his participation in next week’s Canadian Grand Prix.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Jun 13, 2022, 9:53 AM
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Hamilton was seen hobbling away from his Mercedes after finishing fourth in the Azerbaijan GP on Sunday, with his back having taken a pounding from the excessive bouncing and bottoming out.
Afterwards, the seven-time champion said he could not express how much pain he endured throughout the race, as he was forced to clench his teeth at times to overcome his agony.
“I was just holding and biting down on my teeth due to the pain, and the adrenaline [helped],” he told Sky.
Wolff said the scale of Hamilton’s discomfort after the race showed that the issues his driver was suffering were beyond the norm, as he expressed some concern about what the Briton was having to go through.
“He's really bad,” said Wolff. “We have just got to find a solution. At this stage I think he is maybe the worst affected from all drivers. But pretty much everyone, as far as I understood from the drivers, said that something needs to happen.”
Asked if there were any worries that Hamilton’s pain could even leave him in a situation where he was unable to race again next weekend in Canada, Wolff said: “Yeah, definitely. I haven't seen him and I haven't spoken to him afterwards, but you can see this is not muscular anymore.
“I mean, this goes properly into the spine and can have some consequences.”
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG, in Parc Ferme
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Mercedes always brings a reserve driver to races, which is normally either of its Formula E drivers Stoffel Vandoorne or Nyck de Vries, and agreed it made sense to have someone in place in case there were problems for Hamilton in Montreal.
“I don't think this is only Lewis' issue,” added Wolff. “He's the one that is probably worst affected. But generally, it also affects George and many others.
“The solution could be to have someone on reserve, which we anyway have at every race, to make sure that our cars are running.”
Read Also:
- Leclerc baffled by Ferrari's recent reliability disaster
- Azerbaijan GP: Verstappen leads Red Bull 1-2 as Ferrari implodes
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