Lewis Hamilton says he felt “eyeballs coming out of orbits” during Friday’s “crazy” training sessions ahead of this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix. The seven-time F1 champion has struggled for form during the early stages of the season and is sixth in the Drivers’ Championship standings.
Hamilton’s Mercedes car has been hit by porpoise problems this year after teams redesigned their cars over the winter amid a series of changes to F1 regulations. The Silver Arrows seemed to have solved the worst of their rebounding problems in recent weeks. But the Monaco track was not friendly with Hamilton during training.
“It’s crazy,” Hamilton said Friday. “It’s 2022 and the tracks aren’t so smooth when they come back to the surface; the technology is still against us. But I think we’ve made some improvements during this session and when you go around, the grip doesn’t feel not bad. It’s just eyeballs coming out of their orbits. “
During FP1, Hamilton was heard on the radio telling Mercedes bosses, “It’s so bouncy here, man, I’m losing my fucking mind.”
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And on Friday evening he added: “First of all, it’s the most rugged track I’ve ever been on. It’s the most rugged track I’ve ever driven. So one, that makes it difficult and two, our car bounces a lot. It’s a different bounce than we’ve experienced in the past.
“It is at low speed [corners], it is not aerodynamic and the blows of the track are making it worse. So it’s not about learning to drive the track, it’s about fighting the car. Joining the vault is, go … shit … I hadn’t experienced it like this before.
“I remember in the past, my early years here, a light and agile car was much better. But now we have these super heavy cars and the braking zones are different.”
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Monegasque ace Charles Leclerc dominated Friday’s sessions in front of his local crowd as he completed an impressive double of training ahead of his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz, with Red Bull duo Sergio Pérez and Max Verstappen finishing third and fourth respectively.
And Hamilton, who finished the day in 12th place, admitted his team needed to improve before Saturday’s qualifying session. “We have work to do overnight,” the 37-year-old added. “As I anticipated, we’re not as fast as the Ferraris or the Red Bulls.”