The Formula 1 teams were en route to Montreal when the FIA issued a technical directive outlining how they intended to resolve safety concerns that drivers had raised about their cars bouncing.
The measure has consisted of establishing a metric that sets a limit on the intensity of vertical oscillations, forcing the teams to lift their cars in case of not complying with it, and also allowed modifications to be made to the floors already for the weekend from Canada.
Only Mercedes was able to respond to this last option, installing a second tie rod for Friday practice. However, this was withdrawn on Saturday amid threats of a protest from other teams after it was questioned whether the FIA had followed the correct procedures.
The situation led to a clash between Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and rival team principals at a meeting on Saturday morning, with the Austrian subsequently accusing the others of behaving “regrettably”.
But Wolff isn’t the only one who thinks the FIA could have handled the situation better, and some aren’t happy with the way things have gone off on the eve of a grand prix weekend.
Aston Martin boss Mike Krack said: “I think the timing of the technical directive was not exactly ideal, because you have the whole team travelling, and everything is at the site [you go]”.
“You can react, but you have to be very sure of what you are doing or you have to know in advance what this will do. So I think in a situation like that you have to take a conservative approach and look for solutions for the next race. timing [of the intervention] could have been better.
AlphaTauri director Franz Tost agreed with Krack: “The timing was not good at all, because most people were travelling. And sending a technical directive a few days before the race is definitely not the best”.
Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer said briefing teams on a Thursday meant any team that hadn’t already prepared something to reinforce its flat bottom was potentially at a disadvantage.
“I think it’s not fair to the rest that he couldn’t bring an extra strap, for example,” he said.
“So we have to be careful not to change the rules of the game in the middle of the season.”
Several team bosses have also questioned whether the FIA’s overall plan is the right one, as the swinging metric seems an incredibly complex item to manage and monitor.
Alfa Romeo boss Fred Vasseur also offered his opinion: “I’m not sure introducing a new technical directive is the right way to go, honestly.”
“We will have new things to manage, monitor, control and complicate the regulation again.”
“I think some cars are quick on the rebound, like Ferrari, and some teams were able to fix it, like Red Bull, but it’s up to the team to decide where they want to go.
Szafnauer added that all teams have the option to get rid of the porpoising immediately, simply by raising the ride height.
“We face exactly the same difficulties racing these cars as everyone else,” he explained.
“And we tend to get the car to a ride height that still gets the performance we need, but doesn’t injure or hurt the drivers or destroy the car. We do it safely.”
“I think every team has that opportunity to do it. You just have to increase the ride height. It will be safe and you don’t have to do anything else. It’s just that some decide not to do it and put pressure on the FIA to make changes.”
