“It is not too pleasant at all,” George Russell flags porpoising as a safety concern


“It is not too pleasant at all,” George Russell flags porpoising as a safety concern

George Russell

The F1 2022 pre-season testing is underway in Barcelona, with all the teams trying their new cars, created after possibly the biggest regulatory changes in the sport in nearly 40 years. The 4.675km long track was lapped 1104 times on Day 1 of 3 by a total of 16 drivers.

In hundreds of laps complete by each time, all of them seem to be facing the problem of ‘porpoising.’ The term simply means the effect in which the cars are bouncing at the end of the straight. It is a common effect in cars with so much ground effect, and that is giving some teams a lot of problems.

Mattia Binotto has also flagged it as a challenge for the teams. He said“I think most of us at least underestimated the problem, in terms of [being] on track and bouncing more than expected.” And now, the new Mercedes driver George Russell feels that it is a “safety concern.”  

FS Video
Porpoising in action

What did George Russell say?

George Russell at Silverstone
George Russell at Silverstone

The phenomenon of porpoising was last seen in F1 in the 1980s when the technology wasn’t as advanced as we have it today. However, it still poses to be a major challenge to the teams, as none of them saw it in simulators and wind tunnels.

George Russell who had an unpleasant experience with it, as quoted by GP Fans, said, “Obviously with a new car, new tyres, a different dynamic out there, you could see substantial issues with the cars on the straights and a bottoming. There is a compromise we need to find to go quickest around the lap, and I don’t think it is something any of the teams would have experienced before, but we are seeing some interesting things out there.”

“That is what testing is for. Some teams are looking pretty fast – a red team and an orange team, in particular, look very, very competitive. Let’s see what tomorrow brings and what we can do between this test and Bahrain,” added Russell.

Russell concluded by saying, “From what I have seen from other teams, in particular, it would be a safety concern, so that does need to be sorted, one way or another. But there is a lot of intelligent people up and down this grid, so I am sure everyone will get on top of it sooner or later.”

George looks seriously concerned with the problem and isn’t very much happy about it. The teams will be looking forward to resolving this issue at the earliest, and head into Bahrain testing and GP with their fastest versions.

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