Red Bull chief right about Mercedes issues, says ex-F1 racer

Mercedes are struggling to challenge Red Bull and Ferrari owing to their porpoising issues

Mercedes need to sort out their porpoising issues to unlock performance from their car rather than look to the FIA for help, says Martin Brundle. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have suffered from bouncing more than any other driver this season, and it was at its worst on the straights of the Baku City Circuit.

Toto Wolff has called on the Formula 1 governing body to intervene on the grounds of safety, and issue a regulation change. Red Bull chief Christian Horner feels it is unfair on teams that have found a solution to porpoising, and is certain affected teams are making their drivers "moan" about it more than necessary.

Hamilton was visibly struggling to get out of his car after the Azerbaijan race owing to severe back pain, but dismissed Wolff's suggestion that he could miss the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend. Brundle agreed with Horner's assessment and feels Mercedes need to find a solution rather than complain to F1's governing body.

Seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton was fourth in his struggling Mercedes Paul Crock/AFP

"The teams that have got it sorted are clearly saying that's Mercedes' problem and it's not Formula 1's problem," Brundle told Sky Sports News. "There's no doubt about it, it looks particularly uncomfortable."

"Of course, [Mercedes] can fix it by raising the car but then they lose a huge amount of performance. So, they need to get the car low, stiff on the suspension and stiff on the side wall of the new tyres as well, and they've had to sacrifice comfort for performance."

"To ask the other teams to change the regulations to help Mercedes, is a bit like asking a turkey to vote for Christmas," he added.

Russell is certain that a serious incident owing to porpoising is just around the corner, but it seems that it is only Mercedes' performance that is getting affected by the bouncing. Ferrari seem to struggle as well, but they have been able to extract maximum performance from their car thus far this season.

If Mercedes lodge an appeal, they will need eight out of the ten teams to agree over a rule change. Red Bull is certain to be against helping their former title rivals, while the likes of McLaren and Alpine have also got a handle on their porpoising issues.