The ride height of the Mercedes is already at its maximum

Tormented by the bounces of his car since the beginning of the season, Lewis Hamilton found himself in great physical difficulty following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, prompting the FIA to intervene to reduce these phenomena. From now on, in the event of excessively intense rebounds, measured by new vertical acceleration sensors, teams will be forced to raise their ride height by one centimeter.

Mercedes is the team that suffers the most from these rebounds since the beginning of the season, and despite many developments made on the W13, the problem seems to persist. Lewis Hamilton expressed himself on this matter before the start of the Canadian Grand Prix. « In the last race [in Azerbaijan] and in previous races, we had raised the car and it didn’t stop. The bouncing depends more on the structure underneath the car, so we have been driving very high since the beginning of the season. It was only in Barcelona that we were finally able to lower the ride height. »

« We had no bouncing for the first time in Barcelona, except in very fast corners, adds the seven-time world champion. « Then it reappeared in Monaco and Barcelona, so we had to raise the car again. But even when we raise the car, it still bounces. And we can’t raise it any higher. We are now limited by the rear suspension. So we continue to lose speed by raising it, but the bouncing is caused by the airflow under the car. »

Mercedes plans to bring many improvements to the W13 at Silverstone during the next Grand Prix, with the aim of further reducing bounces and being able to catch up with the leading teams, Ferrari and Red Bull.