The day before the Grand Prix weekend in Canada, the FIA announces an advance on measures to prevent the porpoise of current Formula 1 cars. The biggest bouncing team of all, Mercedes, in particular, was out for surgery. The team of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton only gets exactly what it didn’t want.
Roughly speaking, the FIA came up with two measures: the first involves looking at excessive wear on the wooden plank used in the floors of the cars, and on the skid blocks†
These are titanium blocks or strips that are attached to the floor and are the first to hit the asphalt when the car goes too low. This one skid blocks provide the sparks that are often seen.
If during the inspection it appears that the plank and skid blocks wear too much, the FIA instructs the team to drive with a higher ride height. So it’s being looked at individually by team, and not as Mercedes seemed to suggest – a standard ride height for all cars.
There is a wooden plank in every Formula 1 floor, which must not wear out too much
There is a wooden plank in every Formula 1 floor, which must not wear out too much Photo: Getty Images
FIA comes with special formula for Formula 1
The second measure is also customised: the FIA wants a formula in which it is possible to calculate how much vertical movement there is allowed in a car. This formula does not have the same effect on every car; cars that have a lot of vertical movement, for example Mercedes and Ferrari, may not comply. Cars like the Red Bull, which barely bounce, normally don’t have to worry about it.
The FIA can use this customization, because the safety card is drawn. Teams must ensure that it is safe for the drivers to drive the car. If the many bouncing leads to loss of concentration or health risks, then it is up to the team to prevent this. So if Hamilton has a lot of back pain after a race, Mercedes has to solve this itself.
Lewis Hamilton exits with difficulty after Azerbaijan GP
Lewis Hamilton exits with difficulty after Azerbaijan GP Photo: Getty Images
Red Bull feared more general measures
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner feared more general measures, such as a standard set minimum ride height for everyone. Something like this only requires an interim adjustment of the technical regulations, and this requires a large majority of eight out of ten Formula 1 teams.
The FIA is now circumventing that by focusing on safety. Drivers complained especially after the Grand Prix of Azerbaijan, making this chosen path well defendable.
After these first measures, it gets more complex
The FIA’s announced measures are actually an advance on more, and a fine example of combating symptoms. Ultimately, there must be more thorough measures that the organization will discuss with the teams. The goal is to porposing and other forms of bouncing a thing of the past.
Porpoising is not a purely aerodynamic effect. It is the result of the new technical regulations for the current cars. This includes that cars have to get a large part of their downward force from the floor, using the ground effect.
This way of down force generating much less air disturbance, so that the cars are less bothered by each other when they drive in quick succession. This should promote overtaking.
Porpoising is a self-repeating process
The ground effect works like this: In two large tunnels, which are incorporated in the floor of the cars in the longitudinal direction, negative pressure is generated by accelerating the airflow there through a narrowing. Simply put, there is therefore less air at that spot, which creates a suction effect. This is how the car is lowered. This works better if the floor is adjusted as close to the asphalt as possible. That is why the teams drive with the lowest possible ride height.
Porpoising occurs when the floor is sucked so close to the asphalt that the airflow is completely interrupted. The floor then immediately releases by stopping the suction effect, causing the car to rise. This immediately restarts the airflow, which sucks the floor back to the asphalt. There the airflow is then interrupted again, so that this process continues to repeat itself. This creates an up and down movement that porposing is called.
The floor of today’s cars works best with the lowest possible ride height
The floor of today’s cars works best with the lowest possible ride height Photo: Getty Images
Cars bounce a lot more anyway
The suspension and tires also play a role in this. To keep the car as low as possible to the asphalt, the suspension has been tuned extremely stiff. In addition, the tires are much thinner this year, because the rims have become relatively larger (from 13 to 18 inches). This makes the cars bounce much easier. What does not help is that the suspension of the cars had to be greatly simplified due to the new rules. All kinds of exotic mufflers have been banned since this year.
This may be the long-term solution. Because the stiff and simplified suspension not only contributes to: porposing, but make the cars bounce a lot more anyway. Bringing back the exotic and complex dampers could help the teams control this bounce and ride height much better. This keeps the ground effect floor working properly, without all the adverse side effects. It is the easiest way out of the situation in which many teams find themselves, which can be introduced per next season.
Only for Red Bull would this ultimately be bad news, because the team of World Cup leader Max Verstappen will lose the advantage they currently have next year. The smartest boy in the class suffers because of the children who did not do their homework properly.