One team that will certainly not be too sad to see the back of the last Formula 1 regulations cycle is Mercedes. Having dominated the constructors' championship with eight consecutive titles, the rule changes that came into force in 2022 caused the Silver Arrows all sorts of problems and, over the course of four seasons, they were only able to win a handful of races.

It was a shock to the system for Lewis Hamilton back in 2022, as well as his young new team-mate. George Russell had completed a three-year apprenticeship at Williams and was delighted to finally get his chance to race for the team that had dominated F1 for so long. But it didn't work out that way.

Mercedes turned heads by turning up in 2022 with their infamous 'zeropod' car design, which at first worried rivals who felt they might have missed a loophole in the new rules. But the reality was that the Silver Arrows had simply taken a wrong turn in their development. That led to not only a lack of pace, but also a very uncomfortable car for its drivers.

Many teams suffered from the 'porpoising' phenomenon to varying degrees, with Mercedes one of the worst-affected. Hamilton suffered significant back problems as a result of the constant bouncing while racing, and Russell struggled too. The latter has now revealed how he and the seven-time world champion wanted to demonstrate to the team's designers truly how it felt to be behind the wheel of the car.

They suggested one of the designers could get into a simulator rig and test it out for themselves. However, the plan was quickly assigned to the scrapheap, deemed to be too dangerous. Russell recalled: "We have got, like, a rig that does simulated replays of a lap, replaying the sort of suspension movements from the chassis side.

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"Lewis and I wanted to put one of our chief designers in this car to do a replay of Baku, to sort of show how aggressive the porpoising was. And the health and safety officer said it was too dangerous. So it just gives a bit of perspective.

"You are driving around for an hour and a half. You are shaken all over the place. Your back, your body, your eyes... I remember the first year I went to Vegas, I could not see the brake marker boards because the car was hitting the ground so aggressively, and I was doing 240 miles an hour, and you could not see it. I spoke with a few drivers, and half the grid was the same. So yeah, glad we are moving away from this."

Russell will hope that Mercedes put themselves back on top in the new regulations cycle beginning this year. Paddock rumours have suggested the Silver Arrows could be best-placed to deliver the engine to beat and, if that proves to be the case, it may be that only team-mate Kimi Antonelli might be able to stop the Brit.