Formula 1 has been dealing with the subject of bouncing since the start of the season, but how bad is it really? Who might be playing games in front of and behind the camera to turn the situation in their favor? And what measures are actually appropriate to solve the problem? Those responsible have to answer these and other questions these days.
Mercedes in particular wants a solution from the FIA because their cars are among the biggest problems in the field. In Baku, Lewis Hamilton climbed out of the car in visible pain, though some observers were unsure if that wasn’t a bit over-dramatized to help his case.
In any case, the FIA counteracted this with a technical directive a few days later, which Mercedes, however, did not meet. Because the teams should not exceed a certain metric when bouncing, otherwise they have to put their car higher – and that costs performance.
For George Russell, it’s just a “band-aid” that the bandage sticks to the wound. He demands more: “Even for the teams with the slightest problem, it’s still an incredibly aggressive and bumpy ride,” he says. “The FIA has access to all vertical acceleration parameters – and they are far from what one would classify as safe,” said the Mercedes driver.
Leclerc: Can see George’s point, but…
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc can’t quite agree with the Brit’s concerns: “Of course I understand George’s point. If you see him and Lewis getting out of the car after Baku, it’s very bad. And the pain that Lewis is going through is unacceptable,” says the Ferrari driver.
But: “You shouldn’t underestimate the amount of work that the teams have done in the past few months to get the problems under control,” he sees no reason why teams should be punished for their good work. “We have to be careful and should take data from different cars,” said Leclerc.
Because at Ferrari, bouncing is not a big problem and has been the main focus of the car since the first test. “We’ve improved a lot there,” he emphasizes and doesn’t want to “simply throw the whole work in the bin” just because another team has bigger problems.
Sainz: Stand up for the future of drivers
“Of course I understand from Mercedes’ point of view that it’s very bad, but I also think that there are solutions for it,” said Leclerc. The problem: These cost performance – and the team doesn’t want that either.
However, teammate Carlos Sainz was not on Leclerc’s side and spoke out early on in favor of measures against porpoising so as not to endanger the health of the drivers – even if this may go against Ferrari’s sporting ambitions.
But the Spaniard says: “I’m not standing up for myself. I’m standing up more for the future of Formula 1 drivers and I think I use common sense when I speak. We’ll see what happens in the future .”