Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton has condemned the surface at the Monaco Grand Prix, labelling the circuit the ‘bumpiest rollercoaster ride ever’ as he claimed his eyes were coming out of their sockets during Friday’s practice session.
The seven-time world champion ended the pair of sessions just 12th on the leaderboard, approximately 1.611 seconds off the leading speed of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. His W13 struggled with the bumpy track surface and the Brit found himself behind teammate George Russell, who was sixth.
The octuple world champions have struggled with severe porpoising as their cars have been bouncing uncontrollably following the new regulations and car designs implemented for 2022. The porpoising issues have plagued the early rounds of the 2022 season for Mercedes, as neither Hamilton nor teammate Russell have been able to truly compete with the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull.
However, aerodynamic porpoising was not to blame for the vigorous bouncing on this occasion. It was ultimately a combination of a stiff set-up and the bumps on the public roads around Monte-Carlo.
“Firstly, it’s the bumpiest the track has ever been,” said Hamilton. “It’s probably the bumpiest track I’ve ever driven so that makes it one, difficult, and two, generally our car bounces a lot.
“It is different bouncing to what we have experienced in the past. Because it is in a lower speed, it is not aero. It is just the bumps on the track are making it worse.
“Otherwise, [I am] not really having to learn the track differently, it’s just having to fight the car. Putting a lap together is wow! Holy crap! It’s a lot different.
“I don’t remember experiencing it like that before. I don’t know how it is for the others and if they are experiencing the same thing as us but it is the bumpiest rollercoaster ride ever.”
Hamilton has claimed the chequered flag on three occasions at Monaco, while he has been on pole position twice. The 2022 event will be his 15th visit to the principality - but he is concerned F1 has taken a step backwards when it comes to the iconic race.
“I remember back in the day, my first years here, just a light, nimble car going around and it was so much better,” Hamilton added. “But now, we have these super-heavy cars.
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“They’re heavier than ever before, the braking zones are different so it is crazy in 2022 that the tracks aren’t as smooth when they have been resurfaced. Technology is still against us. But as I say, putting a lap together is difficult.
“I think we made some improvements going into that session. When you do try to put a lap together, the grip doesn’t feel terrible it’s just your eyeballs coming out of the sockets so we’ve got some work to do to try to fix that.
“As anticipated, I didn’t think we would be as quick as the Ferraris and Red Bulls. Our battle is to try to stay ahead of the McLaren s I think.”
The 22-race F1 2022 campaign - which is expected to return to a record 23 races in the near future once a Russian Grand Prix replacement is found - continues with the Monaco Grand Prix in Monte-Carlo on May 29.
