The FIA is set to introduce new technical regulations to tackle the proposing issues currently faced by teams. The new regulations are set to take off from the Belgian Grand Prix, which comes up on August 28. Several teams have complained of the porpoising issues and how it affects their performance on the racing track.
Porpoising, or bouncing, has been the major problem of most teams so far this season. This has to do with the new car redesign as a result of F1’s new regulations, which took effect this year. In the past, the car was designed to allow to go over the body, which then pushed the car downwards, increasing the speed. But this created a problem as the air that swept past the body of a car made it difficult for the car behind to overtake.
To fix the issue, this year’s redesign transferred all that air downwards, which was supposed to allow the cars go faster. The faster the car goes, the more air is sucked towards the ground. While that works, it also creates a problem because as the car goes faster, the more it touches the ground, and when that happens, the air flowing downwards stops, causing the car to lose its downforce and then “bounce” as it lifts off the ground.
As the car continues to go fast again, the process continues over and over again, resulting in a bouncing effect that has caused discomfort to drivers and has also affected their performance. Teams like Mercedes have been very vocal about the effect of porpoising and Toto Wolff; the team boss has warned that FIA cannot continue to ignore the warnings, particularly the ones relating to the health of the drivers, due to the extreme bouncing.
Last week, the FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said that the updated technical regulations for 2023 had been sent to the World Motor Sport Council, but there were no mentions of any agreement has been reached.
Written by: Leon Osamor
