Formula 1
After the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the FIA was challenged after the disturbing images of Lewis Hamilton following the race in Baku. The federation has therefore decided to intervene to try to solve the problem of porpoising in F1 to guarantee the safety of the drivers. But Red Bull regrets this change in the regulations, and especially the timing of the announcement.
With the new regulations this season, the different teams of F1 have faced a very important problem in the development of single-seaters: porpoising. This phenomenon causes serious bounces of single-seaters on tracks in a straight line and at high speed. Some stables, like Red Bull or Ferrari, have found solutions to solve this problem. But on his side, mercedes is in trouble. Since the start of the season, the single-seaters of the German team have always been handicapped by porpoising and this is even beginning to harm the health of Lewis Hamilton. After the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the seven-time world champion was almost bent over in pain. The FIA has therefore decided to intervene by publishing a technical directive to introduce several measures to force the improvement of the behavior of the cars. However, this was not well received in the paddock. After a meeting between the stable manager, Toto Wolff was accused of pushing its pilots to exaggerate porpoising problems so that the FIA change its rules. This did not fail to anger the boss of mercedes. But, despite that, Christian Horner – the director of Red Bull – continues to have doubts and says that the problem most certainly comes from the development strategy of the German team rather than the regulations themselves.
FIA takes steps to reduce porpoising in the interests of safetyhttps://t.co/XTs7zC4oKx
— FIA (@fia) June 16, 2022
A problem at Mercedes rather than in the regulations after Red Bull
” Is porpoising a security or political issue? The problem with Mercedes is more serious or certainly has been more serious than with any other car before [le GP du Canada]. It certainly depends on the team. It’s up to her to deal with it if it doesn’t affect the others. I know it has been said that other pilots have complained. Our pilots never complained about porpoising. They said some circuits could do with a clean up, maybe resurfacing some portions, but we never had a problem with the rebounds. The problem is that they make their car too stiff. I think their concept is the problem, rather than the settlement “he confided in remarks reported by Motorsport.com. Afterwards, Christian Horner regretted the timing of the announcement of the FIAsince only mercedes was able to benefit from Canadian Grand Prix : “ The timing of the FIA intervention? There is a procedure to introduce into these things. What is particularly disappointing is the second reinforcement. We have to discuss it during a technical forum and they openly solve the problems of a team, which was the only team with [le second renfort au Canada]even before the Technical Directive. »
“If the FIA deems a car to be dangerous, they always have a black flag at their disposal”
Finally, the boss of Red Bull believes that the FIA cannot change the regulations mid-season and that they always have the option of raising a black flag if a car is unsafe: ” A meeting scheduled soon between the FIA and the teams? There are some of the brightest engineers in the world [en F1] and things will converge. I doubt we’ll be here talking about rebounds next year, even if the rules remain unchanged. These cars are still relatively new, I think as teams develop their cars you will probably see them start to address some of these issues. You cannot suddenly change the Technical Regulations in the middle of the season. If a car is dangerous, the team should not run it. She has that choice. Or if the FIA deems a car to be unsafe, they always have a black flag at their disposal. »
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