One of the most memorable scenes of the last weekend was the difficulty of Lewis Hamilton getting out of his car after fourth place in the Azerbaijan GP. During the race, the Englishman’s Mercedes hit the asphalt hard in the high-speed sections. So much so, that it was possible to hear the bounces in their radio communication.
He wasn’t alone. Daniel Ricciardo also put his hands on his lower back as soon as he got out of his McLaren. And it was hard to find any pilot who hadn’t felt at least a little discomfort while piloting. “It’s not healthy for sure. I had physical therapy before and after every session because my spinal discs are suffering. We need solutions so we don’t end up walking with a cane at age 30,” said Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri.
This is a problem that this new generation of cars has been facing since the beginning of the year, but in Baku these bounces, called in the category of “porpoising” (term that can be translated as dolphinada, for referring to the movement of a type of dolphin ), were more aggressive. That’s because street tracks are naturally more undulating, and in Baku there is a long straight, where the movement gets worse.
The same will happen this weekend at the Canadian GP, another undulating street circuit with long straights.
It’s not that Formula 1 or the teams don’t know how to solve the problem, which comes from a set of factors – the low-profile tyre, the stiffer suspension and the greater need to generate downforce under the floor, all these novelties for this year. There is a very simple solution to porpoising, which is to drive the car further from the ground. Thus, the car will absorb the impact that cannot be mitigated by the tire and suspension, but at least it will not hit the asphalt. In fact, it is normal to use taller cars on street circuits for this very reason. A less flexible floor also helps.
“All teams know how to stop porpoising immediately,” admitted McLaren boss Andreas Seidl. “But since it’s a competition, it makes sense to analyze it as a whole and follow the best path for the sport.”
In other words, nobody wants to lift the car because it takes away from the car’s performance. So the pilots themselves are being put in a difficult situation. “The team asks me ‘Can we compromise the deal?’ and I’m compromising my health for performance. I’ll always do that, I’ll always try to have the fastest car I can. But I don’t think the FIA should put us in that position of having to choose between health and performance,” said Gasly.
The concern is great among younger drivers because they know that the regulations will not be changed, at least until 2026. That is, they would have to live with this for close to a hundred races and fear suffering negative effects in the medium and long term. deadline. The first to publicly lift the ball was Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. And the drivers have already asked in meetings with the race direction that the FIA intervene.
Security or performance issue?
The Federation even made a proposal with a series of measures that, in practice, would result in a minimum height for the cars. However, to change the regulation, at least 8 votes among the 10 teams would be necessary, and this number will hardly be reached.
That’s because porpoising is not seen in all cars, much less is felt in the same intensity. So teams like Red Bull are against a change. “They can put a tougher plate on the car if they want, or the easiest solution would be to drive the car higher. It’s unfair to punish those who did a good job,” said Christian Horner.
Red Bull’s onboard footage shows the movement, even if it’s much more subtle than other rivals:
The Briton admits that the FIA should step in if porpoising was a “genuine concern for safety at various teams on the grid, but it is something that is affecting individual teams.”
It is a fact that the team that talks the most about porpoising is Mercedes, which also has the most violent movements. But Baku showed that they are also trying to run the car lower than Red Bull, for example, and with a more flexible floor, which also generates even more movement. Horner knows that to make the innovative sidepod zero concept work, Mercedes needs to get the car very close to the ground.
So what the drivers see as a long-term health issue enters into the politics of the teams, who don’t want to give rivals any chance. In the midst of all this is the FIA. To resolve the impasse, they either adopt a proposal accepted by at least eight teams, or determine a change for security reasons.
Negotiations continue and what nobody wants is to see an accident happen before any decision is made. Mercedes’ George Russell said the car bounced so much in Baku that he could barely judge its braking points (a statement that Horner interprets as an instruction by Mercedes to create the feeling that the cars are unsafe and force the FIA to act unilaterally. ). And this weekend in Canada should be no different. Both with the bounces on the floor and with the war of words outside of it.
