Criticism about porpoising began even before the start of the season, and it is that in the winter tests, the teams learned the effects of this phenomenon of past times in Formula 1. With the passage of time, the paddock has been able to see who It has been affected more, since nobody, of course, has benefited from the rebound, and Mercedes is among the most affected.
The repeated complaints of its drivers, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, as well as the team’s boss, Toto Wolff , served to make the FIA act, which suddenly changed the rules to make an ‘anti- porpoising ‘ regulation before the start of the Great Canada Prize 2022. However, that was not all, since the federation allowed to add a second tie rod to harden the floor of the car and reduce the rebound, something that caught everyone by surprise, except for one team, Brackley’s .
This has caused many to suggest that the Silver Arrows had been tipped off ahead of time, though despite the updates the W13 was still uncompetitive as seen from free practice, falling far short of the leaders.
The numbers speak for themselves, and after nine appointments, only in Spain was a slight improvement seen by Mercedes, but not the behavior of the car, which is very insensitive to changes in settings and has continued to suffer since the Bahrain tests.
Lewis Hamilton got out of the car in Baku with severe back pain from this move, and that led Wolff to label the W13 a ” shit box “, at the same time apologizing for the car the team provided the seven-timer. World Champion.
Mercedes appeared in Canada with a series of novelties, hoping to find a solution to porpoising and, instead, the situation did not change much. Hamilton tried a center-cut bottom, the hole in which was later plugged, and they added a second mid-height brace to the bottom, with FIA permission.
The car with the silver arrows continued to be a “grasshopper”, and that caused long faces in the engineers inside the box, who are thinking of leaving this project and starting to work for 2023 with less extreme concepts, but without a doubt , more functional for the current regulations.
For the appointment at Silverstone, the final package is expected to arrive with all the changes that have been designed, and some are talking about a half-car rebuild to turn the situation around. Last year, the British layout allowed Mercedes to have a car capable of withstanding Red Bull’s development until the last race, even though they lost the battle for the title against Verstappen in the drivers’ standings.
However, the scenario seems very different today, and while in 2021 Brackley’s were very competitive, this course seems much more complicated, although a fighter Russell is the most consistent driver on the grid.
