FIA imposes measures on Formula 1 teams to reduce porpoising

F1 News

16 June 2022 at 17:37
Last update 16 June 2022 at 19:45
  • GPblog.com

The FIA has decided to intervene to reduce the problems of porpoising in the future. For example, it is giving the racing teams some technical guidelines to adapt to their cars, while it is also continuing talks with the teams about the coming years.

Porpoising arose this season due to the new regulations. Since the car is pushed down through the so-called Venturi tunnel, after a short time there is not enough space between the car and the asphalt. This causes the car to shoot upwards and drivers to move back and forth in their cars on the straight.

It not only results in reduced performance, but drivers are increasingly complaining about the physical discomforts that it causes. For example, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell complained extensively about the phenomenon last weekend in Azerbaijan.

Measures to resolve porpoising

The FIA held extensive meetings behind the scenes and decided that a change was needed. Among other things, the organization pointed to the loss of concentration that would be present when drivers experienced physical problems. Drivers would also be excessively fatigued by porpoising, it indicates on the website.

In addition to two technical guidelines, which should provide a short-term solution, the FIA is sitting down with the teams to make medium-term agreements. Together, it should ensure that the problem is further reduced and even eliminated from Formula 1.