Porpoising was a major issue that was encountered by teams last season, as the aerodynamics surrounding the new regulations caused the cars to bounce.
While teams like Mercedes, who suffered heavily with the bouncing last season, appear to have fixed the problem heading into 2023, others seem to still be struggling.
When Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz took to the track in Bahrain in the SF-23, eagle-eyed viewers spotted the car bouncing up and down, something which new team principal Fred Vasseur is not worried about.
“Pretty simple, it’s not at all like it was a year ago when the car was bouncing like a kangaroo,” he told the media after Thursday’s testing.
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“Today we found before Turn 1 and Turn 12 it’s bumpier than before, but that’s another problem.”
Sky Sports pundit Anthony Davidson is not convinced however, as he believes the Ferrari was bouncing a lot more than any other car.
“It is [a bumpy track] but I’ve not seen anyone’s head bouncing around quite as much as Sainz,” he said.
“Maybe they are just trying to sneak the car down and test the limits of it.”
The regulations have changed slightly this year, with the minimum floor height rising by 15mm to try and counter this bouncing problem.
Italian publication Formu1a.uno has reported that Davidson’s suspicions are correct and that Ferrari have been experimenting with their ride height, which is what caused the bouncing.
“There was some bouncing but some settings on ride height and mechanics were experimental,” they claim.
“In the factory in Maranello and on the track they didn’t appear worried.
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“The Scuderia should also have a new floor available to test, demonstrating that the Ferrari SF-23 will begin to change rapidly.”
Both Leclerc and Sainz impressed on the first day of pre-season testing but neither were able to match the impressive lap times of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
The Dutchman completed both sessions on Thursday, with Sergio Perez not scheduled to take over until the second half of test, unlike Ferrari’s alternating approach.