Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz has admitted to undergoing scans in order to check for signs of an injury as a result of the intense porpoising which has created a lot of difficulties for several drivers this season given the new design of the new generation of Formula 1 cars.
The Maranello team has been affected by this phenomenon like several other teams, but while Charles Leclerc did not seemed bothered as much by the aerodynamic bouncing, for Carlos Sainz the F1-75 proved more difficult to drive, as the Spaniard also suffered due to the porpoising effect.
Moving to “ground effect” — where the floor generates aerodynamic grip — for the 2022 Formula 1 championship was meant to tighten the competition between the teams at the top of the grid. While the results were partially successful, the porpoising issue proved to be a topic that not mady had anticipated. As a result of driver feedback since the start of the season, the FIA decided to issue a technical directive from this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve onwards with the goal of reducing the forces endured in the cockpit.
When asked about how porpoising has changed his routine, Carlos Sainz explained:
“I’ve had a few extra physiotherapy sessions with Rupert [Manwaring], my trainer. [I’ve had] a few extra scans to try and see what is going on, to see if there is anything to be monitoring or to take extra care on. We have also done some extra mobility sessions because this [the bouncing] makes you tighter, less flexible, having less mobility so you put in more of that to compensate. So you’re having to do some compensation for these cars in your training and in the way you manage your days and your training plan, which I find is, actually, a challenge as an athlete but it is part of the process.” – the Ferrari driver said.
During the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit last weekend, porpoising once again was a topic of discussion after two races in which teams seemed to be able to limit the phenomenon (at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona and on the streets of Monte Carlo), but this was mainly because of the track characteristics with the slower speeds at the latter naturally reducing the bouncing.
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Carlos Sainz continued by expressing his concerns alongside the increasing number of drivers asking why, given the technologically advanced Formula 1 paddock, drivers have to endure the physical discomfort of violently bouncing along the ground.
The Ferrari driver concluded: “Is it really necessary that we are having to do these things with the technology that we have nowadays in the world and in motorsport in general, to have to go through this process? But everyone is listening to us and I am pretty sure that everyone is going to take steps for the future. “
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