“Anti-porpoising” measures will have to wait for the French GP

Changes to F1’s technical regulations to mitigate or even eliminate porpoising will only apply to the July 24 French GP. The teams thus have three weeks to work and adapt.

The FIA ​​today transmitted the draft technical directive specifying how the parameters will be monitored to monitor the phenomenon of high-speed rebounds. Likewise, the directive establishes parameters on the wear of the bottom and the rigidity of the central shoe.

The FIA ​​issued a statement announcing that the directive was sent to the teams: “In relation to the safety issue detected by the FIA ​​due to vertical oscillations (porpoising) of the current generation F1 cars, the FIA ​​is taking the necessary measures to to deal with the situation and sent the teams a draft update to the Technical Directive published just before the Canadian GP The FIA ​​analysis of the data relating to the vertical oscillations has been completed and has defined a parameter to monitor them The update has been sent to the teams so that they can carry out their particular analyzes during the next two Grand Prix. [Silverstone y Red Bull Ring] and will be able to deal with the modifications to be brought into conformity with this technical directive which will come into force from the GP of France. In addition, the directive updates certain parameters related to sole wear and skate stiffness, which are intrinsically linked to this problem. These changes are necessary to ensure a level playing field between teams when applying these parameters.”

The statement does not specify the parameters and details of the directive.

The hasty technical directive issued ahead of the Canadian GP has been rescinded, after Ferrari and some teams demanded its removal as illegal. A directive can be a clarification of the rules, but in no case can it be used to modify the rules.

Although from the first moment the “Canadian” directive was considered a “gift to Mercedes” and several teams disagreed with it precisely for this reason, Horner even said that the problem with the W13 was not not “porpoising” but a bad project. Others said Mercedes had the solution on their hands, simply by jacking up the car, or they didn’t have the problem because they had planned for it.

The FIA ​​has two ways to change the rules on the fly. The first, with the consent of all the teams. The second, unilaterally for safety reasons, which have been invoked by some drivers who have requested modifications from the FIA ​​and according to the press release it seems that this is what the FIA ​​accepts.

But what definitely heated things up was that 24 hours hadn’t passed since the directive was issued and Mercedes was already exposing the extra strap it allowed…like it had been leaked or had inspired the directive’s reaction.

All of this also happened when Shaila Ann Rao had just replaced Peter Bayer as FIA General Secretary for Sport. Shaila has been an important part of the Mercedes team for the past three years and has a close relationship with Wolff. His appointment was greeted with great reservations by the other teams, even though they recognize the value of Shaila.

The FIA ​​corrected on the fly. He said the data would be taken in Canada before updating the regulations. There has been talk that it would control that drivers don’t experience vertical accelerations up to a certain limit – 5G was originally mooted – and that it could sanction teams that subject drivers to higher accelerations. We hear it in a more or less usual way, not for example when jumping from the sidewalk.

The instruction sent to the teams is supposed to refer to the sanctions they could incur. There was talk at the time that this could lead to exclusion from the meeting because the car was considered dangerous.

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Alvin Nguyen

"Amateur introvert. Pop culture trailblazer. Incurable bacon aficionado."

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