The FIA will not back down in its fight against bounces
Despite the pressure imposed on the FIA by certain teams, the latter announced that they will maintain the implementation of measures to fight against "porpoising".
The 2022 Formula 1 single-seaters are, by nature, much stiffer than in previous years. Combined with the ground effect, these cars are susceptible to a phenomenon that is still not well controlled by the teams: porpoising. These rebounds cause damage to the drivers’ health, especially in the back and neck areas.
Some drivers and teams argued that the physical well-being of the drivers should take precedence over the performance of the cars. Among them, Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton. The German team is the one that suffered the most from the bounces of their car, whether it was on Hamilton’s back in Baku or the lack of performance due to this mechanical issue. As a result, Mercedes has asked the FIA to implement measures to limit these bounces.
The FIA heard and decided, during the Canadian Grand Prix, to propose new technical guidelines to the teams, starting with measuring the vertical oscillations of the single-seaters. In case of excessive vertical forces, the teams will be forced to raise their single-seaters by 1cm.
Measures planned for the Grand Prix of Belgium
In order to limit this phenomenon, the FIA will impose, starting from the Belgian Grand Prix, the teams to reinforce the rigidity of the plank located under the floor. This last one is used to define the minimum ride height that a single-seater can reach. This measure means that the flexibility of Ferrari and Red Bull’s floor will now be illegal. In addition to that, teams will have access to the FIA’s acquisitions from the French Grand Prix to quantify their rebounds and adapt their cars as early as possible.
Despite the pressure from Red Bull and Ferrari to try to delay these changes until 2023, the FIA did not waver and reaffirmed during a conference its commitment to protect the drivers’ health. The Federation declared the following: « Although the bounces have been less noticeable in recent races, they still occurred on circuits where they were not expected. There are upcoming Grand Prix races where bounces are expected to happen. »
Although teams are increasingly understanding how to control these rebounds, the trend for 2023, with cars having even more downforce, is that the situation will worsen. The short-term measures implemented in 2022, starting from Spa, cannot be considered as the long-term solution to this problem.
