The FIA ​​pampers Hamilton's back

In the eyes of most Formula 1 fans, Lewis Hamilton is the shadow of the driver he was just over six months ago, when he proved to remain the fastest on the grid, no matter how much the title was Max Verstappen ended up capping him, undoubtedly favored by the decisions made by the Race Direction in that resounding last Grand Prix, in Abu Dhabi.

That tremendous force that led the Briton to cut the Dutchman 19 points in three tests, to arrive tied with him at the last stop on the calendar, seems to have evaporated in the same proportion as his car, the almighty Silver Arrow that had chained the seven previous titles (2014 – 2020), it has become dull.

Neither the Mercedes is the single-seater of before nor is Hamilton capable of making a difference,

This weekend, the World Cup lands in Montreal after an express trip directly from Baku, where George Russell stood on the podium for the third time.

The contrast between the performance of the two riders of the German manufacturer is evident: Russell is fourth in the general table, with 99 points, 37 more than the seven-time world champion, who is sixth and who has only climbed the box once.

Of the eight races held, only in the first (Bahrain) did Hamilton cross the finish line ahead of his compatriot.

If we take the comparison to the timed ones, that is, the pure speed at a single launched lap, the balance leans again towards Russell's side by five to three.

In his fourth season in the competition, the 24-year-old from Norfolk

Bumpy road to the top for Charles Leclerc!

🤕#F1 pic.twitter.com/Z6a5e6d3bo

– Formula 1 (@F1) February 24, 2022

As soon as he parked his car in the parc fermé, it was night for Hamilton before he could get out of the cabin.

He was hurt by the pain in his lower back that tormented him throughout the race, as a result of the brutal rebound against the asphalt of the W13, which in Baku became torture for the boy from Stevenage.

“My back is killing me”, he complained on the radio, in the heat of the battle, in a clear message addressed to the International Automobile Federation (FIA).

The message had all the intentions in the world, given the political war between Mercedes and the rest of the structures.

And it had an effect: the International Automobile Federation (FIA) reported this Thursday, prior to the Canadian Grand Prix, that it will introduce a series of control measures to analyze, individually,

that vertical shake and the effects it can have on the health of runners.

For this, the design of the skates and how they wear out when rubbing against the asphalt will be analyzed in detail.

"This intervention is carried out in pursuit of the safety of the pilots, and after consulting with the medical department," specified the note sent to the teams.

Who else, who less, started the course with problems of the so-called

, that kind of rebound generated by the intermittent vacuum that is created under the latest generation single-seaters, after the redesign of the ground imposed by the new regulations in force.

But while most teams managed to resolve or mitigate that hellish rattle, Mercedes got stuck on it.

This forced the Brackley crew to lift the car more than ideal, with the consequent loss of performance.

In Montmeló, less than a month ago, the technicians thought they had hit the right key, an impression backed by the stopwatch: Russell finished on the podium and Hamilton finished fifth after climbing from last position.

What happened next, no one expected it, and it is that the solutions implemented at the

not only did not work in scenarios like Monaco, a week later, or in Baku, but also aggravated the issue.

And the key to this lies in the irregularity of the track and the potholes that abound so much on urban circuits.

“In the first races we suffered

and in Barcelona, ​​no”, commented this week James Vowles, responsible for strategy at Mercedes.

“We put a lot of effort into solving it, and I am convinced that we have made progress.

In Montmeló, the car was stable and we were able to lower it.

That was the key to working on the set-up and making it more competitive”, explains the engineer.

"However, in both Monaco and Baku we discovered a second problem that was being masked by the first," Vowles elaborates, before detailing the difference between the two types of effect: "As we have solved

, we can now lower the car, but that causes the belly to hit the ground, and that is the rebound we have at the moment”

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