Whilst it wasn’t a successful season for Mercedes, 2022 was certainly a year for the Silver Arrows to reflect on, given how far they came throughout the year.
Rolling the clock back to the Bahrain Grand Prix, the world was left in complete shock at how woeful the Germans were, who clearly had a monumental issue to solve.
The porpoising phenomena rocked the Brackley-based side, who took half a season just to get on top of the issue, something which saw them fall well behind both Red Bull and Ferrari.
George Russell would’ve likely assumed that a move from Williams to Mercedes would result in a catalogue of victories; however, the 24-year-old has since revealed his shock at how bad the W13 was.
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“The first test, thinking we were going to have a bit of a rocket ship and bouncing away down the straights,” said Russell speaking with his team-mate about their season.
Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton endured his worst season of his F1 career, with the 37-year-old not only ending the year in his lowest position ever but also failing to claim a single win.
He battled hard, though, throughout the year to get on top of the bouncing, something which left him with severe spinal pain in Azerbaijan.
Hamilton admitted that he “hated the car” at times and that he became “sick and tired” of the phenomena.
“There were definitely moments when you just hated the car because it wouldn’t do what you wanted it to do,” added Hamilton.
“And the bouncing around you just got sick and tired of it.”
Russell added on Hamilton’s point about the horrific porpoising, with the Brit admitting that he forgot what a non-bouncing car felt like.
“There was a time when I didn’t even remember to drive a car that didn’t bounce,” added Russell.
The side did eventually solve their porpoising shenanigans, which allowed the side to begin focusing on the car’s performance, something which saw Mercedes enjoy a plethora of podiums in the second half of the year.
Hamilton explained how “amazing” it was when the team overcome their spine-shattering issue at the French Grand Prix, which actually resulted in a double podium for the team at Paul Ricard.
“It was just amazing because everyone had been working so hard and we obviously started out with such an unpredictable car for us to get that result was a highlight to everyone to continue to push and never give up,” said the Stevenage-born driver.
Unsurprisingly, though, Hamilton’s and Russell’s favourite moment of the incredibly challenging year was the Brazilian Grand Prix, where Russell claimed his first win of his F1 career and the team’s first of the season.
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Hamilton made the result that much sweeter by claiming second, making for a brilliant one-two result for the Silver Arrows.
“Brazil was our best memory of the whole year,” said Hamilton.
“Our first one-two and George’s first win. Who would have thought when we had that porpoising?”