Porpoising is once again a hot topic in the paddock, as a number of teams have called for the FIA to drop a set of new regulations for 2023 which are targeted at eliminating porpoising.
The bouncing phenomenon has caused chaos for some, and absolutely nothing for others, with the latter being the ones who are rallying together to put a stop to potential new rules for next season.
To eliminate porpoising once and for all, the FIA have proposed that for next season floor edges must be raised by 25 millimetres.
This would most likely affect pacesetters Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Ferrari the most, which is why the pair are the main voices behind the opposing group.
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It is reported that six teams are against the rule changes for next year.
Red Bull and Ferrari haven’t experienced the same level of porpoising as, for example, the Mercedes F1 Team.
Neither have Scuderia AlphaTauri, who are also against the potential new rules for 2023.
AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost believes the proposed regulation changes have “nothing to do with safety”.
“The last discussions and proposals for the changing of the floor has, in my opinion, nothing to do with safety,” Tost said in Hungary.
“It’s just politics,” he insisted.
The main vocal behind the rules being changed is Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who has watched his drivers, George Russell and Sir Lewis Hamilton, fall victim to substantial porpoising for the vast majority of the season so far.
Red Bull compatriot Christian Horner has called Wolff out for “lobbying” the FIA, to get rule tweaks made to benefit the Silver Arrows.
Wolff doesn’t believe this to be true, after explaining that gathered data by the team has proven that drivers could become victims of “brain damage” from porpoising.
“I still believe that the FIA and all of us must do something about it,” he said.
“Frequencies of 1 to 1 hertz that last for a few minutes can cause brain damage. We have 6 to 7 hertz for several hours.”
The opposing teams have argued that porpoising has been seen less as the season has gone on; however, Wolff has called this argument out, insisting that porpoising hasn’t been seen recently due to smoother track surfaces.
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“That (argument) doesn’t count,” Wolff insists, “because Silverstone, Paul Ricard and Austria aren’t exactly tracks we bounce that much on anyway.
“I don’t want to come to Spa or some of the later races where the track isn’t as smooth as a conventional racetrack and we didn’t do anything about it.
“There is all this talk about lobbying in both directions, but what are we talking about here anyway?” Wolff said, referring to driver safety.