Understand everything about the FIA ​​circular concerning porpoising

When we look in the rearview mirror next December and look back at this 2022 season, the Canadian Grand Prix could well look like a highlight of the season. On a sporting level, it is obviously still too early to say, but on a regulatory level, there is no doubt. Thursday, on the eve of the first free practices contested in Montreal, the FIA ​​sent a circular to the teams concerning porpoising, which could upset the sporting balance of this campaign.

The international body has in fact taken note of the complaints of a majority of pilots, first and foremost Carlos Sainz and George Russell, concerning the consequences on their health of porpoising and bouncing, which plague a large part of the 2022 ground-effect single-seaters. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix and its long straight have in fact particularly highlighted the phenomenon, with a Lewis Hamilton barely managing to get out of his W13 after the race, his back was so sore.

The FIA ​​is taking steps to reduce porpoising in the interests of safetyhttps://t.co/XTs7zC4oKx

- FIA (@fia) June 16, 2022

Since a few weeks, Mercedes tried to raise awareness about the risks of the phenomenon, while refusing to really raise the ride height of its W13 in order not to lose performance, while it is already struggling to rise to the level of Ferrari and Red Bull. So that Toto wolff to George Russell, who is also president of the GPDA (pilots' association), the two men constantly mentioned the discomfort and risks of porpoising on the health of pilots. And if the FIA ​​could, in passing, have the idea of ​​taking up the matter by asking all the teams to raise their ride height in order to limit the phenomenon, this would obviously not have been refused! 

The FIA ​​took the subject very seriously, and therefore split from a press release this Thursday in which she explained her need to act: “The FIA, as the governing body of the sport, has decided that, in the interests of safety, it is necessary to intervene to require teams to make the necessary adjustments to reduce or eliminate this phenomenon”. A technical directive (TD039), which AUTOhebdo was able to consult, was therefore sent to the teams. In it, we learn that the FIA ​​wishes to define a porpoising threshold which would be considered acceptable, “based on the vertical acceleration of the car, which will give a quantitative limit to the acceptable level of vertical oscillations”. It is also specified that the exact mathematical formula was still being analyzed and that the teams were invited to contribute to the process. 

Mercedes, big loser in the deal?

Basically, the FIA ​​should measure the porpoising of the different single-seaters from the first free practice session in Montreal (this Friday, 20 p.m. French time), including a “thorough examination of the floor and skids”. When a limit value for vertical oscillation force is established, teams exceeding it will have to resolve, among other measures, to raise their ride height in order to limit the phenomenon, and therefore most certainly accept to lose performance to comply with the FIA rebound requirements.

At first glance, the big loser in this measure, from a performance point of view, risks being… Mercedes. The German team was undoubtedly hoping that all the cars would be upgraded. But only those which porpoise too much, such as the W13 in particular, will be. And when we know that the Mercedes was designed perhaps even more than the others to move as close as possible to the ground, we say to ourselves that the W13 could leave a few extra tenths there. As for the big winners, there could be two: Red Bull, which has an extremely fast car without excessive rebound and which is fighting against a bouncing Ferrari, and above all the drivers, who should be less tossed around in their cockpit . 

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