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Ferrari has reportedly found fixes to the ’porpoising' issues that its 2022 car suffered from during the first pre-season test in Barcelona. Team principal Mattia Binotto has claimed that the team is “managing” the situation and doesn’t expect it to be a problem anymore.
Speaking to the media after the conclusion of the Barcelona test, the Italian said:
“It was an issue but it’s not anymore. Somehow, we are managing the situation. If we’re looking at this on Thursday afternoon and earlier on Friday, I think we are bouncing a lot less. We are happy, first because I think we have done a lot of laps, we have learned from the car, collecting data.”
The Prancing Horse was visibly the most impacted by ‘porpoising’ — a phenomenon that causes the car to bounce up and down on its rear axle at high speeds. During the Barcelona test, other teams were also observed to be suffering from the issue as well.
After the first day of testing, Binotto had conceded that most teams, including his, had “underestimated” the impact of the phenomenon on the new ground-effect cars. He further stated that whoever managed to find a fix for the issue would be in a strong position at the start of the season.
“No clue” where Ferrari stand, despite stellar start to season: Carlos Sainz
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz says the team has “no clue” where they stand in the 2022 pecking order despite an impressive run in Barcelona testing. The Spaniard was pleased with the team’s running but conceded that they were unsure of their relative performance compared to rivals.
Speaking to the media following the conclusion of the Barcelona test, he said:
“I can imagine why you guys are starting to take conclusions and maybe try to put a bit of a pecking order. But for us, really, we have no clue, and I think no-one has no clue of which fuel loads [and] which engines modes is everyone running. So, we cannot confirm or deny that we are happy or sad, because we really don’t know where we are at all.”
The F1-75 topped the charts for most running at Barcelona, with Sainz and Charles Leclerc managing nearly 440 laps between them. Furthermore, both drivers also put in relatively fast times across the three days to top the timing sheets on occasion, leading to some declaring Ferrari as the team to watch in 2022.
