Formula 1 technical heads will meet with the FIA before the British Grand Prix to try to find answers to the sport's porpoising crisis.
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Before the British Grand Prix, Formula 1 technical heads will meet with the FIA to try to find answers to the sport’s porpoising crisis. The FIA’s involvement on safety concerns, aimed at preventing cars from bouncing, sparked a firestorm of outrage over the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. Many F1 teams were irritated by the announcement’s lateness, and there was some misunderstanding among rivals as to whether or not additional bouncing limitations would be in effect for the weekend.
Additionally, the FIA’s decision to provide a technical direction rather than legally amend the regulations sparked rumors of a complaint if Mercedes went forward with the second floor stay. The conflict of viewpoints on the pitlane came to a head on Saturday during a team principals’ meeting, when Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff was incensed at what he saw as ‘pitiful’ behavior from fellow bosses in ganging up on him.
Moving conversations away from the intensity of competitiveness throughout a race weekend is supposed to allow for a more thoughtful approach to putting solutions in place. The FIA will look to push things forward while its single seater technical director Nikolas Tombazis interacts with F1 technical directors later this week, after no agreement was achieved between teams in Montreal. The subjects of deliberation are anticipated to include a review of the data collected by the FIA on vertical oscillations over the Montreal weekend, as well as whether or not it is possible to set limitations in the future.
The FIA also wants input from teams regarding prospective amendments to the technical regulations for 2023, which might allow them greater flexibility in the long run to address the porpoising difficulties. This might involve adjustments to the aerodynamics, suspension systems, or even the removal of items like mass dampers from the forbidden list.
Read more: FIA’s new rules for porpoising may not be a positive change for Mercedes
“I think the political maneuvering that has been going on doesn’t consider what is at the core of this topic. At the core of this topic is that since the beginning of the season, race drivers have been complaining about pain to drive these cars: back pain, blurred vision, we’re talking about micro concussions and people giving their feedback in literally every team.” said Wolff.
“This is something we just need to tackle: whatever the solution is and whatever technically can be implemented to go in that direction. We need to be aware that this is not about cutting a winglet that is an advantage for a team, or a double diffuser. It is that all of us team principals and teams: we have the responsibility to not take this lightly.” stated Wolff.
