Formula 1
Since the start of the season, with the new regulations, the drivers have been more or less bothered by the phenomenon of porpoising which causes the car to bounce once on the track, which has made Lewis Hamilton suffer in particular. The FIA has therefore decided to intervene and is considering some solutions to solve this problem. However, this does not really please Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen, whose teams have found a solution in the development of their cars.
With the new regulations in place since the start of the season, the single-seaters of the different teams have been completely modified. This rule change aims to allow drivers to follow each other in the race, which was very difficult with the F1 older generation that degraded the tires very quickly when they found themselves too close to another driver. The cars therefore find themselves closer to the ground now, perhaps a little too much. Indeed, the start of the season Formula 1 is marked by a porpoising problem that all teams suffer from, some more than others. This phenomenon causes quite significant bounces in a straight line and at high speed. The first to suffer is Lewis Hamilton. Almost bent over in pain during and after the Azerbaijan Grand Prixthe Briton worried and the images challenged the FIA on the health of pilots. The federation has therefore set to work and is considering a few solutions to enable teams to reduce the impact of porpoising on single-seaters. However, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen do not really see this rule change as their respective teams have managed to find solutions to counter this problem.
FIA takes steps to reduce porpoising in the interests of safetyhttps://t.co/XTs7zC4oKx
— FIA (@fia) June 16, 2022
Leclerc opposed to FIA rule change
” It’s the team’s responsibility to give me a car that’s good to drive, and so far I haven’t had any particular problems with it. Yes, it’s stiffer than last year’s car, but I don’t think it’s hard to drive or hard to handle. On our side, we have found solutions to make it better. Hamilton’s pain after Baku? I’m not sure exactly what data was taken, but it’s clear that when you look at Lewis [Hamilton] getting out of the car after Baku does not look pleasant. But again, we should be careful and take data from different cars and then see, because I don’t think it’s the same for everyone. When we race our car, everything is fine. We have to pay a little attention to that and see with whatever the problem is in the different teams and try to understand how bad it is from car to car “confided the pilot of Ferrari in comments reported by Nextgen-Auto.
“These rule changes mid-year, I don’t think that’s right”
Same story on the side of Max Verstappen : “ I don’t care if it’s going to help us or hurt us, but these mid-year rule changes, I don’t think that’s right. Of course, I understand the safety aspect, but if you talk to all the engineers in the paddock, if you improve your car, you will have fewer problems anyway. Naturally, we must try to find the limit that you can bear, the body itself, for performance. But I don’t think it’s right that they now have to step in and start enforcing these kinds of rules that if you can’t handle the porpoising, you have to raise the ride height. Because it’s very simple, just increase the ride height and you won’t have these problems. This makes things a bit complicated, it will also be very difficult to control in some way, but we will see. “If the ordeal of Lewis Hamilton should soon be coming to an end, other stables like Red Bull Where Ferrari could find themselves at a disadvantage if the rules change. Case to follow.