IT might not be all doom and gloom for Lewis Hamilton.
A team engineer has revealed there are “encouraging signs” for Mercedes ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes car could be much improved in time for the Miami GP
Seven-time world champion Hamilton has been plagued by car issues this season, and was LAPPED way down in 13th at last weekend’s Emilia Romagna GP.
The 37-year-old and team-mate George Russell have experienced severe porpoising – with their cars bouncing almost uncontrollably.
But now Mercedes’ Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin has revealed that progress on the issue is being made, and there could be new parts on the car by the time the Miami GP rolls around.
He said, via formula1.com: “Being realistic, we think this will be something we approach in steps rather than one big moment where the whole thing [porpoising] vanishes, but we are seeing encouraging signs.
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“We are hoping to bring parts to the car soon, maybe even Miami, where we can hopefully see progress on this issue.
“Lots of people are suffering with this problem and we know that lifting the car is a way of alleviating it.
“A lot of the work that is going on in Brackley has been to understand the phenomenon and whether we can actually control it, whether we can engineer it out of the car.”
Hamilton is currently seventh in the drivers’ standings after a disastrous start to the campaign.
Porpoising issues at Mercedes mean Hamilton has not been able to get anywhere near the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull.
He trails championship leader Charles Leclerc by a mammoth 58 points just four races into the season.
Team-mate Russell meanwhile has fared better and is fourth in the drivers’ standings – 21 points ahead of Hamilton.
But new developments at Mercedes could see Hamilton and Russell fire themselves into contention in Miami on May 8.
