"Regulations need to be black and white" - Red Bull set to challenge FIA's intervention to resolve porpoising issue in F1

Red Bull boss Christian Horner is not impressed with the FIA's intervention to solve porpoising issues in F1. A specific technical directive was issued to the teams to prevent porpoising and it will come into force in the 2022 French GP.

The Red Bull boss had mentioned his displeasure at the FIA introducing a technical directive that could fundamentally have an impact on the way a car is set up to run. Speaking to The Race, Christian Horner was questioned about his views on the new technical directive being introduced that wasn't part of the regulations beforehand. Horner hinted that it wasn't the correct procedure or the way things needed to be done.

The clarity and distinction of regulations is set to be discussed at the F1 commission meeting that is expected to be held on Friday.

Christian Horner commented on the nature of the rules, saying:

“Well, this is the problem, isn’t it? That regulations need to be black and white. I think we end up with encyclopaedias that sometimes are way too complicated, and there’s no such thing as the intent of the regulations. It’s a binary thing. So, the F1 Commission meeting, there’s many things to discuss on the agenda. Maybe two hours won’t quite be enough.”

Red Bull: A technical directive should not be a regulatory change

It does appear as if the technical directive has been somewhat infuriating for Red Bull. According to Christian Horner, issues like the porpoising phenomenon are something that needs to be handled by the teams themselves. He insists that the intervention of a technical directive is just not the way to go about it.

He said:

“I think the process is the thing to discuss as well. Because a TD [technical directive] shouldn’t be regulatory changes. There’s a governance and a process for that. So I think we just need to talk through exactly why [it is considered necessary]."

Horner continued:

"It didn’t look like it was a lot of porpoising in this race [at Silverstone]. So, teams will sort it out, and I don’t feel it needs the intervention of a TD.”

It must be noted that the biggest complaints regarding the porpoising/bouncing phenomenon got out of hand in Baku when the drivers were in visible physical discomfort. Ever since, the FIA has been trying to intervene to prevent a repeat of the same episode.