Seven-time world champion and teammate George Russell endured his share of difficulties on the streets of Monte Carlo on Friday, with his W13 experiencing an extreme rebound.
Reflecting on his day, after finishing 12th in the second session, Hamilton said: “First of all, it’s the most rugged track I’ve ever been on, it’s probably the most rugged track I’ve ever driven.
“It makes it difficult, but then in two, in general, our car is quite … it bounces a lot. It’s different, it’s different from what we’ve experienced in the past. It’s just because it’s down. The speed too, so “It’s not aerodynamic. I think only the blows of the track are making it worse.”
Hamilton said the rigid setup features of the 2022 cars did not make things easy for him, as his teammate Russell revealed that there were times when the car had both front wheels on the ground.
“There are stretches where both tires are off the ground,” said Russell, who was the sixth fastest in FP2.
“At turn 5, the right front is in the air, and it’s so stiff that even the left front is off the ground. There are points where you’re almost making a wheel because there are no front wheels in earth.
“So it’s complicated. I don’t know what else we can do with the car. We’re doing everything we can to make it a little easier for us and to give us a little more confidence.
“But you know, boys and girls will work hard overnight and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
George Russell, Mercedes W13
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Hamilton added: “Like I said, it’s different from when we had a rebound before. It’s a rebound, but it’s a different kind of feeling.
“There are about 100 strokes on a single straight. So I don’t know what it’s like for the others, or whether or not they’re living the same life as us. But it’s the most rugged roller coaster.”
Hamilton said the feeling of the current generation of cars was a far cry from how he remembered the Monaco Grand Prix in the past.
“I remember the time, my first year here, just a light and agile car circulating,” he said. “It simply came to our notice then.
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“But now we have these super heavy cars that are heavier than ever and the braking zones are different. It’s crazy in 2022 that the roads aren’t smooth when they’re back on the surface. The technology is still against us.
“But riding the lap is hard, but I think we made some improvements in that session, and it doesn’t even feel bad when you try to do a lap, the grip doesn’t feel terrible.
“You know, your eyeballs are out of orbit. So we have work to do at night to try and fix it.
“As expected, I didn’t think we would be as fast as Ferrari and Red Bulls. Our battle is to try to stay ahead of McLaren right now.”