Mercedes driver George Russell is “confident” that his fellow drivers feel the same way as he does about the potential health impacts of “porpoising” and bouncing.
Ever since pre-season testing, the cars have visibly ad audibly been making heavy contact with the track surface, and this affects the cars’ performance down the straights.
Raising the ride height of the machines only makes things worse in the corners, but performance has not been the only factor.
Multiple drivers, Russell and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz among them, have been outspoken about the possibility of drivers’ long-term health being affected by the phenomenon.
READ: George Russell admits Lewis Hamilton is ‘consistently better’ at ‘little things’
Their seating position is placed right on the floor of the car, which is making contact with the circuit, so the impact travels up their spines, through their necks and into their heads as they travel down the straight.
This causes immense discomfort, as evidenced when Sir Lewis Hamilton struggled to clamber out of his Mercedes after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
To counter this, the FIA introduced a technical directive at the Canadian Grand Prix through which they have designed a metric that will help them control oscillating movement.
As of the Belgian Grand Prix, they can ask teams to raise the ride height of their cars, while flexible planks will also be banned as some unnamed teams have been exploiting that loophole.
Further, a multitude of alterations to the car are set to come into effect next season too, but Red Bull and Ferrari have been unimpressed with the proposed alterations, indicating that the Silver Arrows are hiding behind safety in order to get the FIA to help them get back to the front.
READ: Ferrari tell Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton to ‘lose with dignity’ as they fire new accusation
Russell is the head of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) and he works closely with chairman and former Formula 1 driver Alex Wurz in his role.
The Briton affirmed that, in a recent survey sent to the drivers, most of them will have said that there needs to be a rethink of the regulations.
“We all did a survey, I actually haven’t seen the end result – it’s just with our lawyer and Alex Wurz, and the FIA are aware of what the outcome was,” he told BBC Sport.
“It’s along the lines of: ‘Is the porpoising/bouncing affecting you from a health perspective? Do you feel you have more pains after a race, compared to previous years? Is this something the FIA needs to look into?’
“I don’t know the exact figures, but I’m pretty confident the majority would have said something needs to change.”
Mercedes managed their best result of the season last weekend as Hamilton finished second ahead of third-placed Russell.