After complaints from the drivers about possible safety problems due to the excessive rebound of the cars, the highest body introduced a series of measures to try to eradicate this phenomenon.
The FIA plans to introduce an aerodynamic oscillation metric (AOM) from the Belgian Grand Prix that teams will not be able to exceed.
Furthermore, to ensure that AOM applies to all competitors equally, the FIA is also introducing measures that will ban tricks it suspects some teams have performed to flex their floors and skids (the wooden planks under the car) to achieve better performance.
While some teams have welcomed the FIA’s intervention, others have been upset, believing that the governing body should not have the right to dictate how teams set up their cars.
Furthermore, many believe that it no longer makes sense for the FIA to have to take any action on porpoising now that the problem seems to have disappeared in recent races.
The issue was discussed at an F1 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting on Thursday, with the FIA making it clear its position on the matter had not changed despite criticism from teams.
In a statement, the FIA said it was absolutely convinced porpoising was a “significant safety issue” and so could not undo its plans.
“It is the responsibility and prerogative of the FIA to intervene for safety reasons, and the reason why the regulations allow such measures to be taken is precisely to allow decisions to be made without being influenced by the competitive position in which each individual finds himself. team,” he said.
Although the problem of car rebound has been less present in recent races, the FIA believes that this factor is due more to the characteristics of the circuits, and that there are venues close to the calendar, such as the Hungaroring, Spa-Francorchamps and Singapore, where things could get complicated again.
The FIA also fears that as teams make improvements to their 2023 cars, the increased downforce could cause bigger problems next year.
For that reason, the FIA is sticking to a two-point plan in an attempt to rid the series of such headaches.
Since the Belgian Grand Prix , the FIA has reaffirmed that it is sticking to a double attack in an attempt to fix the problem.
The AOM will be mandatory from the Spa weekend, but teams will be able to use the metric from next weekend’s French GP to better understand it.
In addition, the FIA will force the skid blocks on the cars’ skids (the plate under the car) to be hardened, after it was discovered that teams had made them mobile to prevent wear.
There will also be changes to the way these skids are measured, to ensure teams don’t use the disappearing skid blocks to get past post-race checks, having worn down other areas of the floor.
The FIA has also outlined, after input from the teams, changes to the technical regulations for 2023.
These include a 25mm elevation of the ground edges, an elevation of the underfloor diffuser throat, the introduction of more stringent ground lateral deflection tests, and the use of a more accurate sensor to quantify aerodynamic sway.
All of those measures are urgently due to be submitted to the FIA World Motor Sport Council for ratification, so that the teams can get to work on the revised 2023 designs.
Skates
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