Lewis Hamilton’s raised Mercedes bounces champ to needed podium
It was the roar of the fans that Lewis Hamilton missed, and so it was fitting that when he most needed a boost, he heard it from the largest crowd in Canadian Grand Prix history.
Montreal is, after all, the site of Hamilton’s first Formula One podium. That was 15 years, 103 wins and seven world championships ago — practically another lifetime considering the horrific start Hamilton and Mercedes have had this season.
The new Mercedes built to F1’s 2022 specifications is miserable to drive; Hamilton’s back hurts from all the bouncing, in part because Mercedes rides it low to the ground for maximum performance. That quest for downforce has created a “porpoising” effect that is, at minimum, dangerous to a drivers’ long-term health.
Hamilton acknowledged suffering from more headaches than usual the last few months, but if they are micro-concussions, he doesn’t know. He uses his own personal physiotherapist, takes painkillers and, along with new teammate George Russell, drives whatever car Mercedes gives them.
But it had to feel like rock bottom a week ago in Baku, when the 37-year-old struggled to even climb from his car after bouncing for 190 miles through the Azerbaijani streets. F1’s governing body stepped in last Thursday with an Fia-issued technical directive to address porpoising.
In the end, Mercedes used the technical directive to try new setups Friday, but it made its cars even worse. So come Saturday, the team did what their rivals had been suggesting all along: Mercedes
raised the ride height and Hamilton’s fourth-place qualifying effort was his best of the year. Then he finished third Sunday to earn just his second podium in nine races.
He was Sir Lewis Hamilton when he climbed from the car, not the veteran struggling to hold off his younger teammate and keep the leaders in sight. Hamilton heard the crowd — F1 said a record 338,000 spectators turned out over three days in the series’ return after a two-year pandemic pause — and immediately addressed the fans.
“How are you going, Montreal?” he asked. He later reflected on what Sunday’s finish — his first podium since the season-opener in March — meant to him.
“I’ve not been on the podium for a long time,” he said. “So, especially as I had my first one here 15 years ago, to be back up there and get to experience the energy from the crowd was very reminiscent of that first year here. I’m so, so happy with it.”