June 12, (THEWILL) – After experiencing a back problem in Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as a result of a bouncing issue with the race cars, Sir Lewis Hamilton could be sidelined for subsequent races in the Circuit.
The seven-time Formula One champion came in fourth place in the most recent race, but not without difficulty. Explaining his experience, the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 driver said after the race: “I was just holding and biting down on my teeth due to the pain, and the adrenaline [helped], I cannot express the pain that you experience, particularly on the straight here.
“At the end, you are just praying for it to end.”
As evidenced by some footage after the race, the Brit race driver was clearly in pain as he exited his vehicle. Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team leader, later stated that Hamilton’s injury might “definitely” cause him to miss next week’s race in Canada.
“He’s really bad. 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,” Wolff said.
Several drivers complained about the bouncing issue, and a helmet cam from Charles Leclerc revealed the magnitude of the problem. The brunt of it fell on Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, with Hamilton claiming the team lost almost a second each lap due to the bouncing. After the last race, Hamilton is presently in sixth place, 88 points behind Verstappen in first.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
