Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff says his cars were porpoising so much during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix that drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were subjected to vertical loads of up to 6G. Mercedes have struggled badly with porpoising all year long, and the long straights on the Azerbaijan Grand Prix circuit saw the W13 bouncing heavily throughout the weekend. After the race, Hamilton appeared to be in such pain that he was struggling to get out of his car, and Wolff suggested that a majority of F1 drivers were in agreement that something needed to be done to reduce the stresses the porpoising was placing on their bodies. "It's up to 6G that we are generating in vertical load, so it's not muscular anymore, it's the bones," Wolff told Viaplay of how the porpoising was affecting the drivers' physical conditions. "The drivers sat together, and all of them, but one, agreed that something needs to be done, but I don't know what could be done."
Wolff: Mercedes need more speed
Though Mercedes are a distant third to Red Bull and Ferrari in performance terms so far this year, the Silver Arrows have had excellent reliability and have had both cars finish every race. With 161 points on the board, Mercedes are just 38 points behind second-placed Ferrari, who failed to score in Baku after a double retirement, but Wolff noted that the W13 still needs to be quicker. "The pep talk is first to look at ourselves. We had great reliability, but it lacks performance," said Wolff. "The guys up front are just too quick at the moment. I'm sure we can unlock it, and therefore, all the points we get right now can be very valuable at the end."
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