“I don’t understand the constant whining,” Jacques Villeneuve unimpressed with Toto Wolff’s porpoising complaints

“I don’t understand the constant whining,” Jacques Villeneuve unimpressed with Toto Wolff’s porpoising complaints

Jacques Villeneuve has hit out at Toto Wolff's porpoising 'campaign.'

Following an Azerbaijan Grand Prix with a host of driver complaints against the incessant bouncing and ‘porpoising‘, the FIA brought out a new technical directive to limit the amount of vertical ‘oscillations’ that the car can undergo. Not everyone was pleased, Max Verstappen, Christian Horner, Helmut Marko, and Guenther Steiner all spoke out against it.

Christian Horner, in particular, said in not so many words that the FIA were favoring Mercedes with their verdict. Red Bull have not suffered much from porpoising at all this season, and Max Verstappen also made it clear that he did not want any rule changes because they hamper the team’s progress.

Even Charles Leclerc felt that all the work Ferrari had done to nullify their porpoising has been thrown away with the new technical directive. His team boss, Mattia Binotto was also displeased with the ‘sudden’ technical directive from the FIA. As reported by PlanetF1, The 1997 Formula 1 world champion, Jacques Villeneuve was also not pleased with the rule change, especially not with Toto Wolff’s ‘campaign’ for it.

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Also Read: Toto Wolff: “Mercedes will not stop working on the W13”

Jacques Villeneuve: “A bad car is their [Mercedes’] problem”

Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton

Writing in his column on Formule1.nl, Jacques Villeneuve first praised Lewis Hamilton for a fantastic weekend, saying that he drove very strongly, and perhaps this will the boost he needs for the rest of the season. Villeneuve was, however, not nearly as impressed with Mercedes’ team principal Toto Wolff.

“I am less impressed with Toto Wolff and his campaign. They have always done everything they can to maintain their advantage over the years. Now they have built a bad car and that is their problem, not the FIA’s. Other teams have also solved it, why should they be punished with a possible rule change?”

“I think Mercedes has found something now, as if it was already ready. They bounced less and were fast, they certainly didn’t raise the ride height. But I don’t understand the constant whining.”

Villeneuve added that racing has always been a dangerous sport, and said that nobody had forced Mercedes to set up their cars that way. As Wolff said, Mercedes now seem to have gotten completely on top of their own issues as well. While the technical directive is likely not a worry for Red Bull as they barely had porpoising (or bouncing), it may jeopardise work done at other teams.

Also Read: Christian Horner accuses FIA of favoring Mercedes: “It is overtly biased to sorting one team’s problems out”

Also Read: Mercedes fans can breathe a sigh of relief after latest Toto Wolff revelation