Wolff reveals Mercedes are lifting on the straights

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has revealed the drivers are lifting off on the straights in order to combat porpoising as their 2022 problems continue.

The team’s difficult start to the 2022 season did not look like it was coming to an end any time soon during the first practice session of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as both drivers finished well off the pace.

George Russell came in 10th while his team-mate Lewis Hamilton was all the way down in 18th with only Zhou Guanyu and Nicholas Latifi behind him.

What is even more worrying for Mercedes is the gap between themselves at the front of the grid. Charles Leclerc topped the session with a time of 1:29.402, 4.860 seconds ahead of Russell and 7.062 seconds ahead of Hamilton.

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Team boss Toto Wolff has admitted porpoising remains a problem with the W13 and said they were being forced to lift off on the straights.

“Lewis’ porpoising is not the worst actually,” the Austrian said.

Useful #FP1 in challenging conditions, with plenty of data to delve into before Quali pic.twitter.com/6bFIyuP5GD

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 22, 2022

“We had George bouncing so much that he broke the stay on the floor. We have to lift on the straights.

“I have never experienced bouncing like this in my life. It’s undriveable.”

While Ferrari also