Porpoising has been a serious issue for a number of teams so far this season, with the new regulations resulting in a number of cars bouncing at high speeds.
Drivers have been seen bouncing vigorously in their cockpit, as a result of the aggressiveness of the problem.
None more so than the Mercedes F1 Team, who have struggled to get on top of their bouncing dilemma.
A number of drivers including Sir Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Pierre Gasly have spoken out against the dangerous situation on a number of occasions already this year.
Hamilton was seen suffering from horrific back pain at the Azerbaijan GP, resulting in the Brit needing assistance to climb out of his W13 following the race.
Some teams and drivers called for the FIA to introduce immediate rule changes, with the safety of the drivers in jeopardy.
On the eve of the recent Canadian Grand Prix, the FIA did just that, releasing a statement about the new rule changes going forward for the remainder of the season.
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A statement from the FIA read: “A Technical Directive has been issued to give guidance to the teams about the measures the FIA intends to take to tackle the problem. These include:
“1. Closer scrutiny of the planks and skids, both in terms of their design and the observed wear.
“2. The definition of a metric, based on the car’s vertical acceleration, that will give a quantitative limit for acceptable level of vertical oscillations. The exact mathematical formula for this metric is still being analysed by the FIA, and the Formula 1 teams have been invited to contribute to this process.
“In addition to these short-term measures, the FIA will convene a technical meeting with the Teams in order to define measures that will reduce the propensity of cars to exhibit such phenomena in the medium term.”
These new rules will be introduced at this weekend’s British Grand Prix, with not enough time available in Canada for the changes to be made by the teams.
Interestingly though, Mercedes managed to make the necessary changes whilst in Canada.
It’s believed Mercedes managed to run different floors across the weekend in Montreal, raising suspicion that they had “inside information” from the FIA’s technical directive.
None were more surprised than Dr Helmut Marko, who was the person to suggest that Mercedes had information that the other teams didn’t.
The 79-year old believes that “otherwise you can’t explain what happened,” had Mercedes not received secret information.
“I was very surprised when I saw their floor with that second support,” Marko told the Dutch edition of Motorsport.com.
“When the technical directive came out, it was clear that there would not be enough time to supply such a part.”
Red Bull’s head of driver development thinks the new rules may even “come back like a boomerang” on Mercedes, after being the side who fought the most for the rules to be changed.
Mid-season rule changes is certainly something which isn’t seen very often, it’s also something which Max Verstappen believes shouldn’t be allowed.
Marko fully agrees with the 2021 World Champion, whilst also explaining his point that it should be down to the teams individually to solve their problems, not the FIA.
“I fully agree with Max,” Marko continued.
“And on top of that there is this: the FIA cannot go and determine our setups. In fact, changing the ride height means changing the set-up and the FIA cannot do that at all.
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“My next point is that it is because one team has problems. That team should solve those problems itself, in any case it should not have an effect on other teams.
“We already have rules for it and those rules apply to everyone. If someone can’t solve it, then that’s their own problem.
“By the way, it’s very easy to fix: you just have to put the car higher, although of course you’ll be slower,” concluded the Austrian.