On Thursday, the FIA issued a technical directive stating that measures will be taken against porpoising and its rebound for safety reasons.
After collecting data at the Canadian GP this weekend, the governing body will seek ways to introduce a metric that will be “based on the vertical acceleration of the car, which will give a quantitative limit for the acceptable level of vertical oscillations”.
The teams will then have to meet that figure by adjusting the set-up of their cars to suit each circuit, based on the amount of rebounds they have (which, among other things, will depend on how bumpy each track is).
Christian Horner and Toto Wolff , the chief executives of Red Bull and Mercedes respectively, have been at opposite ends of the debate all season, with the Milton Keynes side having no such setback and the Brackley side having more problems than anyone else.
However, they agree that the FIA may struggle to find a way to make its restriction work.
“I think a little more discussion is needed to understand how it’s going to be controlled,” Horner told Motorsport.com.
“Obviously that’s always the problem with these things. So I think the intention is good, but like all these things, the implementation is crucial.”
“What if there’s a change in conditions, the wind changes or whatever? So I think that’s always going to be a struggle.”
“But I think they have reacted to pressure, which was inevitable, for security reasons of course.”
“With all of these things implementation is important, and understanding the metrics.”
Horner acknowledged that the path chosen by the FIA is better than establishing something like a minimum driving height: “I think it would be grossly unfair to have an equivalent of a mid-year rule change.”
Wolff, for his part, stated that creating a metric will not be easy, and like Horner, said teams need more talks with the FIA.
“I think sometimes you have to not overcomplicate the situation,” he told Motorsport.com .
“Measuring frequency can lead to very controversial situations, or judgments. Would you disqualify a car that you think is bouncing around too much and take a win away from it?”
“I doubt it will be done. So all the teams have to join the FIA and see what we can do to get this under control.”
Wolff agreed with Horner’s idea that the rebound is related to circumstance.
“The thing is that the cars bounce at various stages throughout the weekend, we have sessions where we don’t bounce,” he said. “With fuel, without fuel, wind, headwind, tailwind… it depends on the different levels of grip.”
“So I think it will be very different to say in a session that you are bouncing around too much. And what do you do then for the race?”
“You can have one day where you’re going perfectly well and you don’t see high numbers, and the next day, you have a bouncing car. I think the thing to recognize is that ground effect cars are a problem. And we have to fix that. “.
The Alpine team manager, Otmar Szafnauer , was another of those who indicated that the application of the technical directive will be a challenge.
“It’s not an easy task, it’s going to be tough,” the American told Motorsport.com . “And I also understand that it could be circuit specific. So how do you quickly determine that before you get to a track, so you can plan for it?”
“So it’s early days. We’re trying to be useful to the FIA. We have to make sure that it’s fair for everyone, and that the grid remains uniform. So I don’t think we can start introducing rules, in the middle of the season, for favor one set over another.
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Carl Bingham/Motorsport Images
