"It was still bouncing like a kangaroo" - Mercedes' Toto Wolff points to porpoising as reason behind team being 'completely off'

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff blames porpoising as the reason behind his team's poor qualifying performance at the 2022 F1 Miami GP. The Austrian exec. claims the team now has a better understanding of the problem after a successful FP2 session on Friday.

The first two days of the 2022 F1 Miami GP have been full of highs and lows for the Silver Arrows. The team seemed to have found a fix for their porpoising problems on Friday, with George Russell having topped the time charts in FP2. However, the tide soon turned for the German on Saturday, with Russell's car was bouncing around a lot, causing him to be eliminated in Q2. Lewis Hamilton fared considerably better, having finished the session in P6.

Mercedes' Toto Wolff declared porpoising as the major cause for his team's woeful performance. He said:

"We have seen a performing car yesterday in P2 that was real. We were able to put it in a sweet spot and today in P3 we were completely off with the experiments we did. It creeped a little bit off but it was still bouncing like a kangaroo, the drivers are not happy with it and you can see that is the reason we are off. We definitely have a better handling on what works and the slump today from yesterday helped. You are right, it is never one thing that is responsible for performance and non performance but we had a good car yesterday afternoon, then we worsened it. Some things we understand, others not."

Mercedes have brought new front and rear wing upgrades to Miami

Mercedes have brought a plethora of upgrades to the W13 for the 2022 F1 Miami GP, including a redesigned front wing, a low drag rear wing and a different configuration of beam wing. As reported by Auto Motor und Sport, Mercedes is reportedly aiming to improve the car’s efficiency by cutting down drag with the new upgrades.

The new upgrades seem to have worked, with both W13s facing significantly less porpoising. However, it is still unclear how the new upgrades will perform under racing conditions.

Mercedes' Toto Wolff said of the upgrades:

"Since our return from Italy we have learned as much as possible from the weekend, and at the same time, we have gained further insights in the wind tunnel and in simulations. We have found several ways to improve the car."

Lewis Hamilton is in a very good position to bring home decent points for the German team. Catch the action live as the Silver Arrows try to return to the top.