George Russell reveals Mercedes ban over 'too dangerous' F1 experiment

George Russell has revealed how he and Lewis Hamilton were once banned from conducting an experiment into porpoising by a health and safety officer.

In 2022, the Mercedes W13 was one of the cars most affected by porpoising, with the zero sidepods design proving susceptible to the phenomenon, which had caught teams by surprise during pre-season testing.

Changes were made during the 2022 season, but not until after the Azerbaijan GP, with Hamilton gingerly climbing from his cockpit after finishing fourth due to numbness in his back, such was the ferocity of the bouncing. 

Afterwards, both Russell, who had finished third, and Hamilton wanted to place a senior engineer in Mercedes' simulator rig, but as Russell explained, health and safety blocked the idea.

"Oh yeah, to be honest, they are brutal cars," Russell began to tell media, including RacingNews365. 

"We've got a rig that does simulated replays of a lap, replaying the suspension movements from the chassis side, and Lewis and I wanted to put one of our chief designers in this car to do a replay of Baku.

"[It was] to show how aggressive the porpoising was, and the health and safety officer said it was too dangerous, so that gives a bit of perspective.

"You're driving around for an hour-and-a-half, you're shaking all over the place and your back, your body, your eyes. 

"I remember the first year of Las Vegas, I couldn't see the brake marker boards because the car was hitting the ground so aggressively, I was doing 240mph, and I just couldn't see it.

"I spoke with a few drivers and half the grid was the same, so yeah, I am glad we're moving away from this."