Wolff admits upgrade may be behind Mercedes' bouncing issues

Lewis Hamilton revealed after finishing fourth in Sunday’s grand prix that he had suffered with significant bouncing in his upgraded W14 throughout the weekend in Belgium. 

Mercedes were plagued by bouncing and porpoising problems for much of the first year of F1’s current technical regulations but seemed to have eradicated the issue with their 2023 challenger. 

The German manufacturer introduced a sizeable upgrade package including reshaped sidepods and a revised floor at Spa, and Wolff admitted the new design may have caused the bouncing to return. 

“We’ve got to analyse it,” Wolff said. “There is so much hard work that’s been going on for the upgrade. 

“The aero guys, and the operations to deliver that upgrade, you’ve got to take your hat off to them.

“I think the floor could have been the reason why we’ve been bouncing, but we’re going to see it in the data.

“And maybe there’s something that we need to find, because I still believe the direction that we’re going now is the right one.” 

The bouncing didn’t prevent seven-time world champion Hamilton from setting the fastest lap of the race on the 44th and final tour. 

George Russell, who finished two places behind his teammate in sixth, also reported bouncing in high-speed corners. 

“We suffered with a huge amount of bouncing,” he explained. 

“A number of teams did, maybe not as severe as we did, but still obviously it is a bit of a shame to see that, as a sport at the pinnacle [of motorsport], the majority of teams are still struggling with bouncing.

“I hope something can be solved in that regard in the future.”