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Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz hopes that teams can find a solution to the "annoying" porpoising problem in 2022. Cars were spotted bouncing up and down along the straights in Barcelona due to the phenomenon.
While F1 is certainly at the very cutting-edge of technology, teams are sometimes unable to predict the outcome of various technological advances in their cars. A fine example of this is the 2022 ground effect phenomenon called 'porpoising', where cars bounce 30-40mm when driving fast in a straight line. The 2022 aero change that brings back ground effect is thought to be the cause of this strange phenomenon which is affecting drivers across teams.
Carlos Sainz is hopeful that teams can fix the issue at the earliest, as bouncing up and down while driving at speeds above 180 mph is dangerous and can lead to horrific crashes. The Spaniard said:
“It doesn’t feel great, obviously. Especially when you think that we’re doing 300 km/h and we’re jumping 30-40mm up and down like crazy. Annoying. But hopefully it’s resolved and it’s not something that we need to live with. It’s quite on the limit. You have to trust the engineers and everyone around you that it’s just going to keep getting better, as we learn these ground-effect cars.”
Valtteri Bottas agrees with Ferrari driver's concern
Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas validated the Ferrari driver's concerns, claiming that the porpoising effect can negatively affect a driver's vision whilst entering a corner. F1 drivers often rely on the braking markers placed on the side of the track to judge when to start braking into a corner. If their cars, however, are unstable due to porpoising, they might be unable to spot the perfect braking point. Bottas said:
“For sure it’s not very comfortable if it happens, visually it gets a bit tricky and you lose overall load because basically, the level of the downforce goes up and down and it can affect the braking as well.”
The effect was first spotted in Ferrari cars but was then observed in almost every other car on track during the first pre-season tests in Barcelona. AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly also spoke about the technical issue making its rounds in the F1 world. The Frenchman believes teams will have to think about different situations where the effect may manifest, causing harm to drivers. He said:
“We know that in certain circumstances in the race - safety cars, tyre pressure dropping, etc - we may face this and it may actually become an issue in the race. We’ll have to think about all these different situations where things will get a lot worse.”
The next round of pre-season testing is set to take place from March 10 to 12 in Bahrain and will be the final chance for teams to sort out the porpoising issue before the season starts. Ferrari fans can look forward to seeing the gorgeous F1-75 take on the Bahrain circuit with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz at the helm of the wheel.
