Hamilton: We had big bouncing this weekend

Last year, Mercedes had high-profile bouncing with their Silver W13, and while their 2023 Formula 1 car, the Black W14 seemed to tamer, Hamilton revealed the issue was back this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps.

Hamilton Qualified fourth for the race, but started third following Max Verstappen's demotion to sixth for a grearbox penalty, ultimately finishing fourth with teammate George Russell finishing sixth, having qualified eighth.

Speaking after the race in Mercedes' media brief; the Briton said: "It was a non-eventful race for me today with not a huge amount going on.

"I was unable to keep up with the cars ahead of me and was struggling in the beginning. We know the rear end is our biggest issue and then we had some bouncing this weekend.

"At the end, I was keeping the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc within a few seconds, but I couldn't get any closer. It was nice to have the gap to the car behind and to attempt to go for the fastest lap. It was gusty out there today and difficult to keep it on the track, but my lap was decent," he explained.

"We know we have more work to do to close the gap to the front. We'll work with all the data we've accumulated and try to figure out what we can do for the next race after the summer break," Hamilton concluded in Mercedes' race report.

However, speaking to Sky Sports F1 about the bouncing, Hamilton went as far as claiming: "We were back to the bouncing like we had last year.

"[The team] don’t know [what’s caused the bouncing]. To me it is a concern but we’ll work through the data this week and try and figure out what we do for the next race," he revealed.

"I know what I want, I’m praying for it and I’m just waiting for the day we get it," Hamilton told Sky.

Russell, in the other Mercedes, struggled to match his teammate on pace, and was outqualified by him in both the qualifying for the Grand Prix and the Sprint Shootout.

The young Briton claimed he could've achieved a better result had he not been compromised in the opening lap melee between Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and McLaren's Oscar Piastri - both retired later.

"I really felt that I could have been up there with Lewis fighting for a podium for the Team today," Russell said. "Unfortunately, I was boxed in on the opening lap behind Oscar when he picked up damage at the first corner.

"That cost me a couple of positions and compromised my Grand Prix. After that it was a good race for us, and we have opened the gap in the Constructors' by 51 points to third place.

"It has been an intense first half of the season for everyone in the Team, so we are looking forward to the break and the chance to switch off for a few weeks before we get back racing again at Zandvoort.

"We know our goal is to win races, and I still believe that we can do that this season," Russell concluded.

With F1 now entering the summer break, Hamilton is fourth in the Drivers' Standings, while Russell is sixth, 49 points separating the pair.

Mercedes now sits firmly second in the Constructors' Championship, behind Red Bull and ahead of Aston Martin.