P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Lewis Hamilton has compared his experience during FP1 for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix to the difficulty he and Mercedes endured in Baku at the start of the current F1 regulations cycle.
Lewis Hamilton compared driving on the recently re-surfaced Interlagos track to the infamous 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix due to the bumpy conditions. The ground-effect era during the first season of F1 caused issues like bouncing and porpoising, disrupting airflow under the cars. Mercedes, among other teams, advocated for regulation changes for driver safety, leading to heated exchanges like one between Toto Wolff and Christian Horner captured in Netflix’s Drive to Survive. Despite advancements in F1 development to eradicate bouncing, Hamilton expressed discomfort during the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix practice session due to the road conditions. The track’s poor re-surfacing led Hamilton to compare it to Baku 2022, describing the car as hard to drive through corners and hitting hard down the straight. Hamilton faced struggles during sprint qualifying, failing to reach Q3 and lacking confidence in the car, while teammate George Russell outqualified him in sixth position.
