F1 Admits Lewis Hamilton’s Biggest 2022 Problem Was “Simply Forgotten” in Pre-season Analysis

Every few years, F1 introduces new regulations for cars that have teams scrambling to adapt. However, this time around, before most teams could deliberate on the car’s aerodynamics, they were left struggling with the bouncing issue. Lewis Hamilton was arguably the worst affected driver on the grid, often complaining of severe back pain after driving on the circuit. F1 CTO now admits it could have all gone away had they not simply overlooked the problem.

F1 introduced a whole series of changes to the car rules in 2022. Arguably the most radical change related to the ground-effect floors of the cars. While the teams derived more downforce from the car, they also faced the problem of the car bouncing off of the track.

Speaking on the issue with Auto Motor und Sport, Pat Symonds said, “I have to admit, it wasn’t on our radar either. But we should have had it. We had the ability to discover it beforehand because we worked with dynamic simulations. For example, we used them to check what happens when a car spins and gets underair.” [Translated using Google]

“This requires special software that we could have used to anticipate and understand the bouncing,” he added. “I should have known too because I was still working on ground-effect cars. I had simply forgotten. Without a doubt, bouncing changed things. The teams first had to solve this problem before they could work on their aerodynamics. Bouncing is not purely an aerodynamic problem. A lot of mechanics also play a role, for example, the suspension stiffness.”

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The worst for Hamilton came in Baku as he struggled to get out of the car after his back gave out after the race.

Lewis Hamilton recognizes only the most painful memory while looking back at the 2022 season

Lewis recently sat down with his teammate George Russell as the duo looked at the most iconic moments from the 2022 season. Hamilton admitted he couldn’t recognize most of the pictures, but the one with him holding his back after coming out of the car after the Azerbaijan GP stood out.

He told, “I don’t actually remember a lot of these photos. The one I remember is this one (him holding his back). This one is the one I remember the most just because of the pain I was in. That weekend I went lower than you (George Russell) on the rear. The ride height was much lower. It was much worse on my car. But painful for both of us I think.”

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Despite an extreme drive, Hamilton secured P4 in the race and also got the Driver of the Day. His presence in the next race in Canada was in serious doubt, however, he didn’t just show up, but also bagged a podium finish.