F1 teams were caught off guard at pre-season testing in Barcelona by the way their cars suffered tremendous bounce or roll on the straights, caused by the nature of cars under the 2022 rules.
The phenomenon, which also occurred the last time ground effect was in F1 in the early 1980s, is triggered by downforce pushing the car further and further down the track at high speed before the airflow suddenly stops, and the Formula 1 car then lifts thanks to the sudden loss of load.
The cycle of the car going up and down is repeated along the straight, and is nicknamed ” porpoising ” because it is similar to the way porpoises (a cetacean, roughly dolphin-like) enter and exit of the water when they swim.
Teams are already working in their factories to try to solve the problem before the start of the world championship, but F1 does not help this by banning the sophisticated hydraulic suspension systems that were previously allowed.
Russell, whose team (Mercedes) had to put temporary supports in the ground in Barcelona to help limit flex and improve what happened, believes that a simple way to improve the new generation of cars in the long term would be the return of active suspension.
Speaking about porpoising , which was made viral by a video of Charles Leclerc’s car posted by F1 itself, Russell highlighted active suspension as a good way forward.
“We just saw with the video of Charles how bad it was for them,” he said. “Then I think we will have to find a solution.”
“I suppose if we had active suspension there, it could be solved with a snap of the fingers. And the cars, of course, would be a lot quicker if we did.”
“I’m sure all the teams are capable of it, so it could be key for the future. But we’ll see in Bahrain. I’m sure the teams will come up with some clever ideas on this.”
Active suspension was banned in F1 before the 1994 season, as part of the series’ efforts to reduce driver aids.
However, in 2014, the teams floated a return because they thought the technology would be fairly easy to implement and cost-effective.
But even though the idea was there, F1 decided not to allow it.
George Russell believes that active suspension would be a good option for today’s cars as it would also help reduce lap times.
“I think it’s clear that if we had active suspension, cars would be much faster for the same aerodynamic surfaces, because you’d be able to optimize ride heights for each corner speed and optimize them on the straights to have the least amount of drag. , analyzed.
“So it’s an easy way to make cars go faster. And if you think about a safety aspect, then it would be an improvement. I’m sure there are more limitations. I’m not an engineer, but we wouldn’t have this problem directly, that Yes, I am clear.”
McLaren technical director James Key believes active suspension would be a positive for F1 in the long run. However, he is skeptical about whether it is the way to go in the age of the spending cap.
“Active suspension would help in two ways,” he explained. “You could try to maintain your maximum aero performance for longer into the lap, which is a lovely thing if you can pull it off.”
“But it could also somehow counteract some of the natural frequencies hitting the chassis. Then it wouldn’t eradicate the problem, the physics would still be there, but it would certainly help manage it.”
“As technical director, I personally would love to see active suspension come back. But with the cost cap, it’s not the best project.”
