‘Wouldn’t miss it for the world’ – Lewis Hamilton to race Canadian GP this weekend despite back injury

Lewis Hamilton said “I’ll be there” when addressing doubts over whether a back injury would keep him out of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff went on to suggest the seven-time world champion could miss Montreal, with practice starting on Friday, but Hamilton took to Instagram to confirm he would compete.

“Good morning world,” Hamilton said on his Instagram story on Monday.

“Yesterday was tough and had some troubles sleeping but have woken up feeling positive today. Back is a little sore and bruised but nothing serious, thankfully.

“I’ve had acupuncture and physio with Ang and am on the way to my team to work with them on improving [the car]. We have to keep fighting. No time like the present to pull together and we will.

“I’ll be there this weekend, wouldn’t miss it for the world. Wishing everybody an amazing day and week.”

Mercedes enjoyed a promising Sunday in Azerbaijan, with Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell finishing third.

However, their porpoising issues remain, with both Hamilton and Russell working with the team to overcome the problem.

“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 added: “I was pretty pleased to see the race coming to a close. 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.”