George Russell agrees with Lewis Hamilton on 'brutal' Mercedes issues after Azerbaijan GP

George Russell admitted that he was relieved to see the chequered flag at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after he and Lewis Hamilton were subjected to violent bouncing on the long straights in Baku. Russell managed to secure an impressive third-placed finish at the end of the 51-lap contest but was far from comfortable inside the cockpit, with Mercedes still having been unable to iron out their issues with bouncing over the course of the season to date.

Hamilton, who crossed the finish line in fourth place, complained of back pain at times via team radio and was spotted moving gingerly as he pulled himself out of his car in the immediate aftermath of the race. Russell went on to reveal that he also struggled with plenty of discomfort as a result of the bouncing before insisting that something needs to be done to resolve the situation in the not-too-distant future.

"To be honest I was pleased to see the race come to a close," he told Sky Sports F1. "Just smashing the ground every single corner, every single lap.

"[It was] pretty brutal, I'll sleep well tonight. Especially on a circuit that isn't usually too physical, it's just what we've got to deal with and live with at the moment.

"We as drivers have to accept [it]. There's not going to be any short-term changes but there are conversations about the long-term future of these regulations.

"We've got a lot of brilliant engineers and intelligent people in this sport, I'm sure we'll find the right solutions. I don't know what the solution is, to be honest, I think at the end of the day the majority of us are in the same boat."

It remains to be seen whether Mercedes will be able to fix their issues with bouncing on the straights as they look to close the gap to Red Bull and