Max Verstappen Experiences Lewis Hamilton’s Biggest Problems From 2022 Mercedes, as Imola GP Makes Its Mark on Dutchman’s Health

“You’ve got a problem, change your f**king car,”  said Christian Horner when Toto Wolff was raving about the porpoising issue. The Mercedes CEO even went as far as suggesting that Horner’s driver has been complaining about the issue. Well, about 2 years after this incident, Max Verstappen has finally admitted to having a bouncing issue. However, it is not as Dutchman expert Lewis Hamilton’s 2022 nightmare. So, what is it?

Remember when the 2022 regulations were introduced and, as soon as the testing started, the teams started noticing a flaw with the regulations? Yes, we’re talking about the porpoising issue that affected all the cars to some extent. However, Mercedes was the worst affected and couldn’t get rid of the issue until the new car in 2023 arrived, which in itself was another big issue for the team. Nonetheless, whenever we went on board with Lewis Hamilton, all we could see was, to be honest, we couldn’t see anything because of all the vibrations from porpoising. 

Well, Max Verstappen faced the same problem in Imola. Imola is one of the few old-school tracks in F1, which means it is narrow and bumpy. While all drivers feel the bumps on a bumpy track, if a car is too low or too stiff, the bumps can really take a toll on the body. This is exactly what Max Verstappen experienced at the Emilia Romagna GP, as he was knackered after just 20 laps into the race.

Explaining this issue, Max Verstappen said, “I’m just broken from the bumps, to be honest. My back, everything is hurting. It’s not so much from the physical side of things, but just it was so bumpy out there. Already, after like 20 laps, I could really feel my back. So I’m just looking forward to laying in bed. Maybe take some painkillers. And a massage, I don’t know.” Nonetheless, this was the least of Max Verstappen’s worries while driving, as a super-quick Lando Norris almost snatched the win away from him. But what happened to Verstappen’s pace?

Christian Horner explains Max Verstappen’s RB20 nightmare in the Final laps at Imola

Max Verstappen suffered massively in the final 10 laps of the race as the Hard tires gave up on him and he started sliding everywhere, leaking loads of time to Lando Norris. The Dutchman described the experience as driving on ice. Nonetheless, Christian Horner has now explained how Red Bull did not run the hard tires on Friday to keep an extra set of fresh tires and it backfired as they didn’t have the data that McLaren did. Hence, Norris was better on the hard tires at the end.

Explaining the same, as per Formu1a.uno, Christian Horner said, “In the second [stint], the first part went absolutely well, but as the rubber wears out the temperature becomes crucial and we have started to lose it. We didn’t get as much out of the tires as Lando, he at one point seemed to be very under Leclerc’s pressure, then all of a sudden their car turned on and he started to recover strong.” He then added, “We thought it was better to have an extra set of new tires, but in hindsight, it was better to try the Hard Friday and have information about the tires.”

Would you be able to sustain the G-forces and the bumps at the sort of speeds that F1 drivers do in their car? What do you think? Let us know below.