George Russell is concerned about how the present porpoising effect, which has plagued the latest generation of Formula One cars, is affecting the health of the drivers.
Despite starting 11th, the Mercedes driver put forth a strong performance at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, finishing fourth.
Russell admits the bouncing he is experiencing inside the cockpit when the car is running at high speed is taking a physical toll on the drivers and has been the worst yet for the Brit, despite another impressive performance in which he comfortably beat teammate Lewis Hamilton who was down in 13th.
“When the car is in the right window and the tyres are in the right window, the car, except for the bouncing feels really good to drive,” he said after the race.
“But the bouncing, it really takes your breath away. It’s the most extreme I’ve ever felt it.”
“I really hope we find a solution and I hope every team struggling with the bouncing finds a solution, because it’s not sustainable for the drivers to continue.”
“This is the first weekend I’ve truly been struggling with my back, and almost like chest pains from the severity of the bouncing.” Russell continued. “It’s just what we have to do to go and do the fastest laps.”
Despite Russell’s good start to the season, Mercedes is struggling to keep up with Ferrari and Red Bull after the first four races, with the porpoising issue harming them more than any other team.
Toto Wolff, the team boss, has already admitted that the team, which has won the last eight constructors’ championships, has to make urgent upgrades to come back in contention, with lead driver Lewis Hamilton struggling to negotiate traffic on his way to a disappointing 13th place at Imola.
“It was really bad [Hamilton’s race]. We got squeezed by the other contenders and no overtaking in DRS train,” Toto Wolff told Sky Sports.
“We saw with George [Russell] what you can do in clean air. We are not good enough for a world championship and need to fix the car.”
“We are going to look at things for Miami, we can make a step in the understanding of the car. It’s another day.”
“We just need to understand more and bring development to the car and fix the bouncing.”
