"It’s not healthy, that’s for sure" - Pierre Gasly wants the FIA to save F1 drivers from 'ending up with a cane at 30 years old' due to porpoising

AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly recently claimed that the porpoising suffered by the majority of the cars in the 2022 season could have a lasting impact on the F1 drivers' physical health.

As reported by PlanetF1, the 26-year-old revealed that he has been undergoing physiotherapy sessions to manage the damage to his spine, saying:

“It’s not healthy, that’s for sure. I’ve had a physio session before and after every session, just because my [spinal] discs are suffering from it. You have literally no suspension. It just hits going through your spine. The team are asking me ‘okay, we can compromise the set-up?’ and I’m compromising my health for the performance. And I’ll always do it because I’m a driver and I always go for the fastest car I can. But I don’t think the FIA should put us in a corner where you have to deal between health and performance.”

Mentioning that F1 drivers have asked the FIA to look for a solution to the bouncing, the Frenchman said:

“That’s the tricky part of it and clearly not sustainable. So that’s what we discussed at the drivers’ briefing and kind of alerted them on this problem, and try to ask them to find solutions to save us from ending up with a cane at 30 years old. Sometimes the car is moving on its own, just because the steering is shaking. At such speed, it’s not easy. I don’t think they can fix something until the end of the year. But hopefully for next year.”

Meanwhile, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton visibly struggled with severe back pain due to all the bouncing at the 2022 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

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Pierre Gasly relieved to have had "a clean weekend" at 2022 F1 Azerbaijan GP

Pierre Gasly secured his best result of the season so far at the 2022 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, finishing in the top five behind both Red Bulls and Mercedes'.

In a post-race media interaction, the Frenchman expressed that he was certainly pleased to be on top of his game for the first time in a while, saying:

“It’s been pretty incredible for us today. Finishing in the top five is really good, especially considering how the start of our year has played out. We’ve not had that much luck so far, so it was important to get a clean weekend, which is what we’ve achieved here in Baku. We made no mistakes this weekend, we showed great pace in practice, then we had the best Quali of the year yesterday and today we finished in our highest position of the season to date. We also enjoyed a nice little battle with Lewis [Hamilton], which was fun.”

Pierre Gasly now stands tenth in the drivers' standings with 16 points to his name.