Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen appeared to poke fun at Lewis Hamilton for the Mercedes’ porpoising after the Dutchman won the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Verstappen had to battle hard to secure his sixth win of the season in Montreal, narrowly coming out on top in a tight race with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. The lead changed hands between the two drivers on a number of occasions, but the reigning world champion managed to come out on top.
The Dutchman kept the Spaniard at a distance and secured the victory. It means Verstappen has extended his lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship to 46 points ahead of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.
Hamilton crossed the line in third place to claim a podium finish in Canada - his second finish in the top three this season. As Mercedes has dominated the sport for the last decade, it has been perplexing to see the 37-year-old struggle in 2022 but the Silver Arrows have battled against the phenomenon porpoising which has gripped the sport in 2022.
The octuple world champions have struggled with severe porpoising as their cars have been bouncing uncontrollably following the new regulations and car designs implemented for the 2022 season. The issues have plagued the early rounds of the 2022 season for Mercedes, as neither Hamilton nor teammate George Russell have been able to truly compete with the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull due to the uncontrollable rattling of their car.
The problem affected Hamilton at times throughout the weekend in Canada but did not stop him from joining in with the podium celebrations at the end of the 70-lap contest at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Verstappen appeared to mock his rival as he explained the issue in the post-race press conference, with the Dutchman bouncing up and down in his seat while pretending to hold a steering wheel.
Following an impressive qualifying, Hamilton started from fourth on the grid and managed to gain a position during the race as Alpine’s Fernando Alonso fell from P2 to seventh. It was a welcome result for Hamilton ahead of the British Grand Prix, which is next up on the F1 calendar.
The Brit will certainly be confident to claim another win at Silverstone, where he celebrated last season despite a high-speed clash with Verstappen on the first lap leaving the Dutchman crashing out of the race on the first lap. Hamilton admitted his impressive podium in Canada has renewed his self-belief ahead of a return to the British Grand Prix - a race he has won a record eight times.
“The women and men back at the factory are working so hard week in, week out and it's so difficult for us all to be working and not always seeing progress,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 . “It's been such a difficult year for me personally.
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“Qualifying was emotional for me and back in the garage we were like: 'Wow, this is beautiful for us'. Then to have a strong race just gives me so much hope and confidence going forward.
“There is potential in this car, but it's got a really small working window and if you don't get it perfect it's all over the place and that's a really hard thing to navigate through, but the team did a great job this weekend.”
Hamilton will hope the porpoising issue will be somewhat resolved ahead of his return to Silverstone. However, Mercedes have suffered problems with bouncing to a greater degree on high-speed circuits, which suggests the seven-time world champion may be facing a difficult weekend.
The 22-race F1 2022 campaign continues with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on July 3.
