Carlos Sainz and George Russell were the prominent voices for potential neck and back concerns due to their cars' porpoising.
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That was the opinion of a number of drivers who took part in a discussion on the subject at Azerbaijan’s regular briefing on Friday. Previously, Carlos Sainz and George Russell were the prominent voices warning of potential long-term neck and back concerns as a result of their cars’ clear porpoising. Most of their coworkers, namely those whose automobiles were not in horrible shape, had remained relatively quiet. Many others got a taste of what the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers have been dealing with all year after the first day of racing on the rough Baku track. Suddenly, the dialogue included more drivers and many more points of view.
Back in Barcelona last month, Sainz offered an excellent exposition of his worries, but few of his colleagues showed any support. “I’m already feeling it. I don’t need expert advice to know that 10 years like this it’s going to be tough, and you’re going to need to work a lot in mobility, flexibility. I’m going to need to invest in health, overall body health.” expressed the Ferrari driver.
“It’s probably a question that I think as drivers we don’t like talking [about] much because we don’t like sounding, say, weak. I’m strong, I’m very fit, I consider myself one of the fittest drivers, and I’ve never struggled in an F1 race at all. But it’s more long term and for the benefit of all of us that maybe we should put it out there to talk about, and see what options do we have.” opined Sainz.
During the FIA news conferences the next day, other drivers were asked if they, like Sainz, were concerned about back and neck difficulties. Some made light of it, and the general consensus was that it was an issue for other teams, not us. “I think it’s very simple. If you just raise your rear ride height, you will not have it, but you lose performance. So if he just raises his rear ride height, it will be fine. It’s just a give and take. I mean, it’s not nice, but I know there’s more lap time in it by running it lower, so you run it low, even if it’s not comfortable.” said Max.
Read more: Teams need to stop complaining about Propoising and learn to deal with it
Lewis Hamilton, too, dismissed any idea of back troubles, saying he had none. Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate and GPDA director Russell, as Sainz mentioned, was the most empathetic. “When you’re going down the straight at over 200mph and you’re smashing up and down on the ground, sure, you wouldn’t choose to have it that way. And the cars are obviously extremely rigid, and they’re not meant to be a comfortable ride.” said his team mate Russel.
