Formula One title rivals Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen do not support the FIA’s intervention on the rebounding problems of some F1 cars.
The technical regulations of 2022 have provided a mixture of an old aerodynamic phenomenon (porpoise) and stiffer and lower cars, which has significantly reduced the quality of the ride and caused high frequency bounces, especially at high speeds.
Prior to the Canadian Grand Prix, the FIA has intervened for safety reasons and will force teams to change their settings if they are found to be breaching a limit yet to be defined for the vertical oscillations to which drivers may be subjected.
This means that whether it is an aerodynamic or a mechanical problem, teams with severe rebounds could be forced to compromise performance by increasing the speed of their gear, and it has immediately been speculated that Ferrari could suffer, as he has been one of the most affected by porpoise.
At the same time, his title rival, Red Bull, has shown little sign of suffering from the problem since the second pre-season test.
Leclerc said on Friday that he was not sure if it would affect the hierarchical order, but regarding the FIA’s own intervention, he made it clear: “I do not completely agree with my side.
“I think it’s the team’s responsibility to give me a car that’s good to drive, and so far I haven’t had any special issues with it.
“Yeah Al that sounds pretty crap to me, Looks like BT aint for me either.
“For our part, we have found solutions to improve it.”
While Ferrari have been visibly tough, Leclerc has said since the start of the season that he has no problem with that and is happy to hold on to it.
Now you may have no choice.
The FIA intends to scrutinize the design and wear of tables and skates under cars, suggesting that any evidence that the underside of the car touches the ground too aggressively could lead to instructions to alter the configuration. .
A metric will also be established to define a limit for what are considered acceptable levels of high frequency bounce and give a quantitative limit for the FIA to the police.
Basically, this will force teams to protect their drivers, whether it’s an aerodynamic phenomenon like the porpoise or a mechanical problem like running too low and hitting bottom.
“I do not know exactly what data was taken, but it is clear when you look at Lewis [Hamilton] getting out of the car after Baku doesn’t look good, “Leclerc admitted.
“But again, I think we should be careful and take data from several cars and then see it, because I don’t think it’s the same for everyone.
“When we run our car, it’s okay.
“I think we have to be a little careful about that and see what the problem is on the different teams and try to understand how bad it is from one car to another.”
The degree of agreement or disagreement of the pilot teams with the action of the FIA will probably depend on how it adapts to their competitive interests.
The alternative to the short-term measures of the FIA would be a total change in the technical regulations that obliges all teams, even those who do not suffer as much from the quality of the march or at least do not complain, to modify their assemblies. or designs.
That would probably have hurt Red Bull, and it was something the team leader Christian Horner was up against, but world champion Verstappen still opposes what the FIA has done.
He does not believe that the governing body should have intervened at all, regardless of whether he can help his team.
“Regardless of me, whether it’s helping us or working against it, these rules change in the middle of the year, I don’t think they’re right,” Verstappen said.
“Of course I understand the safety part, but I think if you talk to all the engineers in the paddock, if you lift the car, you’ll have fewer problems anyway.
“Of course, we have to try to find the limit that you can face, the body itself, for performance.
“But I don’t think it’s right that they have to intervene now and start applying these kinds of rules that if you can’t deal with the porpoise you have to rise to the occasion.
“Because it’s very simple, you just have to go up and you won’t have these problems.
“It makes it a little complicated. It will also be very difficult to police in some way, but we’ll see.”
Although Verstappen was against the start of mid-season changes overall, the supportive position of teammate Sergio Perez is a possible indication of Red Bull’s satisfaction with the result.
“All the teams are chasing balance, they’re chasing downforce, and the way to find it is to go down as low as possible, but there’s definitely a limit on how far you can go down,” he said.
“We all want to be lower than we are today, but we all have limits that we can reach.
“If you are reaching these limits, this is not healthy for the pilots, as some of the pilots commented last weekend.
“I think it’s a good FIA intervention to try to calm him down.”
Mercedes driver George Russell has called for changes to the FIA for several races. This has been considered by some to be a political game as Mercedes has been severely affected by aerodynamic and mechanical bounce problems.
If the Mercedes bounces as badly as it did in Monaco and especially in Baku, it will probably be a candidate to be forced to change its configuration this weekend, presumably making it even less competitive.
Russell said he was glad the FIA intervened quickly, but suggested it was a limited solution at the moment and said more needed to be done.
“With what’s been presented this weekend, I think it’s more of a chalk than the solution and we have to wait and see,” Russell said.
“I think even for the teams that suffer the least, it’s still an incredibly aggressive and bumpy journey.
“The FIA has access to all the vertical acceleration loads we are going through and it is far beyond what can be expected to be safe.
“We definitely need bigger conversations to move forward and where we’re going from here.”
Russell’s teammate Lewis Hamilton added: “It’s always interesting to see people’s perspectives and opinions from different lights.
“It’s something in front of you, and deep down, sometimes people say different things.
“Ultimately, safety is the most important thing and I think there is at least one driver in every team that has spoken.
“I do not think it will change much, but there is a lot to be done.
“It’s good that the FIA is working to try to improve it, because we have this car for years to come.
“So it’s not about tackling the bounce over the next few years, it’s about getting rid of it completely, fixing it so that future drivers, all of us, don’t have back problems to move forward.”