‘You’re just praying for it to end’ – Lewis Hamilton reveals back pain caused by Mercedes car in Azerbaijan

Lewis Hamilton has admitted he was “praying for the end” of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix due to the back pain caused by his porpoising Mercedes.

The seven-time world champion was plagued by a back injury through the practice sessions and qualifying.

He finished fourth in Baku despite the problem and made several overtakes to claim two extra points that were made available by a Ferrari double DNF.

Hamilton stressed that it was adrenaline which pushed him over the line, as he drove past the chequered flag.

“I can’t express the pain that you experience, particularly on the straight here. At the end, you’re just praying for it to end.”

Mercedes will reflect on a promising performance in Eastern Europe, with Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell finishing third.

It serves as a boost in what has been a challenging campaign for Mercedes, as Russell moved to within 17 points of third-place Charles Leclerc in the drivers’ standings.

Mercedes are now 38 points behind Ferrari in the constructors’ standings, and Hamilton paid tribute to his team for the race strategy deployed in Baku.

“The team did a great job with the strategy. Once we fix this bouncing, we’re going to be right there in a race. We’re losing at least a second with bouncing, for sure,” Hamilton said.

“I’ll be at the factory tomorrow; we’ve got to have some good discussions and keep pushing.”

Russell also had an uncomfortable race and believes that the issue of bouncing or porpoising should be taken seriously within the sport.

“I was pretty pleased to see the race coming to a close,” Russell said. “I don’t know what the solution is to be honest.

“The majority of us are in the same boat, either you’ve got porpoising and the car is bouncing up and down and hitting the floor, or you don’t and you have to run the car millimetres from the ground and you’re hitting the floor lap after lap. Whichever boat you’re in, it’s not a pleasant one.

“You’re just smashing the ground every single corner and lap for an hour and a half, it’s pretty brutal. I’ll sleep well tonight. It’s a circuit that’s not normally that physical [too].

“It’s just what we’ve got to deal with and live with at the moment, and what we as drivers have to expect.

“There’s not going to be any short-term changes but there are conversations ongoing about the long-term future of these regulations.

“We’ve got a lot of brilliant engineers and intelligent people in this sport and I’m sure we’ll find the right solution.”