Lewis Hamilton felt ‘eyeballs coming out of sockets’ after ‘crazy’ Monaco Grand Prix lap

Lewis Hamilton says he felt his “eyeballs coming out of the sockets” during Friday’s “crazy” practice sessions ahead of this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix. The seven-time F1 champion has struggled for form during the early stages of the season and is a lowly sixth in the Drivers’ Championship standings.

Hamilton’s Mercedes car has been hit by porpoising issues this year after teams redesigned their cars over the winter amid a whole host of F1 regulation changes. The Silver Arrows appeared to have solved the worst of their bouncing problems in recent weeks. But the Monaco track wasn’t kind to Hamilton during practice.

“It is crazy,” Hamilton said on Friday. “It is 2022 and the tracks aren’t as smooth when they are resurfaced – technology is still against us. But I think we made some improvements going into that session and when you do put a lap together the grip doesn’t feel too bad. It is just eyeballs coming out the sockets.”

During FP1, Hamilton was heard on the radio telling Mercedes chiefs: “It’s so bouncy out here man – I’m losing my f***ing mind.”

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And on Friday evening he added: “Firstly, it is the bumpiest track I have ever been to. It is the bumpiest track I have ever driven. So one, that makes it difficult and two, our car bounces a lot. It is different bouncing to what we have experienced in the past.

“It is in the low speed [corners], it is not aero and the bumps in the track are making it worse. So it is not a case of learning how to drive the track – it is just fighting the car. Putting the lap together is, wow… holy crap… I have not experienced it like that before.

“I remember back in the day, my first years here, a light nimble car was so much better. But now we have these super heavy cars and the braking zones are different.”

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Monegasque ace Charles Leclerc dominated the Friday sessions in front of his home crowd as he completed an impressive practice double ahead of Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz, with Red Bull duo Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen finishing in third and fourth respectively.

And Hamilton, who finished the day in 12th, admitted his team need to improve ahead of Saturday’s qualifying session. “We have some work to do overnight,” added the 37-year-old. “As I anticipated we are not as quick as the Ferraris or the Red Bulls.”