Among the measures introduced by the FIA for this weekend in order to reduce the porpoising of the cars, they have also relaxed some regulations related to the floor area of the single-seaters.
In his technical directive (TD) to curb porpoising , the FIA’s single-seater technical director, Nikolas Tombazis , wrote to teams to inform them that extra help was allowed from the Canadian Grand Prix.
The hope was that the adjustments would help teams stiffen their floors and reduce the flexing issues that have caused some of the aerodynamic porpoising phenomena.
In his technical directive, Tombazis said that by the Montreal weekend, teams could run a second additional floor in front of the current one, which is allowed to help bolster front-end stiffness.
In addition, the teams would be allowed extra thickness in the upper floor surface that might not meet the rules for curvature or volume.
Detail of the floor of the Mercedes W13
Although the teams were not informed of those changes until Thursday, Mercedes has taken to the track with a second plant on the floor of George Russell’s car since the first free practice.
Russell’s W13 appeared in the pitlane shortly before the session, showing off the grooves the Silver Arrows have decided to run.
Mercedes W13 diffuser detail
In addition to the extra suspension, Mercedes has revised the angle of its rear tie rod to help solve the porpoising problem.
The slightly different layout is intended to better align the tie rod with the local flow direction, so should help the car produce more downforce at a higher ride height.
That could help Mercedes in its quest to get the car to produce as much performance as possible without rolling so low to the ground, which leads to more rebound.
Detail of the Mercedes W13
The team said that trimming should allow the fences to work more efficiently, thus in theory producing more downforce.
Speaking of the change, Lewis Hamilton said he was happy to continue the experiments to help Mercedes learn more about their car, even though there was a risk the test would fail and hurt their pace.
“You will see that this Friday, for example, we have something relatively extreme,” he said.
“If it doesn’t work, it will be much slower because it will have less downforce. But that’s my role.”
“I take that responsibility very seriously, and while yes, it hasn’t been ideal on some weekends, it has often set us back because we’ve missed a session or two. proud to be part of that process.
