Charles Leclerc admits porpoising effect made him feel a ‘bit sick’. Charles says porpoising effect made him feel a 'bit sick'.

Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc has complained about the porpoising effect which the new cars for the 2022 Formula 1 cars are experiencing and admitted it makes him feel “a bit sick.”

The Formula 1 paddock has a new favourite word after the first pre-season testing session – porpoising, the term used to describe the phenomenon of cars bouncing up and down on the straights – much like the marine mammal

Porpoising was the talk of the pit lane after the first testing session at the Circuit de Catalinya in Barcelona last week as drivers found their cars bouncing up and down when going on the straights.

The new rules and technical regulations for the 2022 Formula 1 campaign have led to several variations in design and this also meant the severity of which teams have struggled with the aerodynamic effect has been mixed.

McLaren and Mercedes both experienced problems in the first days of pre-season testing, but Scuderia Ferrari also encountered such issues, especially before introducing a new floor in the morning session of the last day in Barcelona. Footage showed Charles Leclerc’s car bouncing wildly down the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya straight and the 24-year-old has admitted it did not “feel good.”

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“It feels like turbulence in an airplane going up and down the whole straight.” – Charles Leclerc said, in a recent interview for Motorsport.com – “I can’t say it feels good. It makes you a bit sick, but it is okay.”

His Maranello team-mate Carlos Sainz agreed and explained it was a “whole new world. It depends on the set-up you drive and whether you use DRS or not. So it’s a whole new world and understanding that we’re getting into because it looks like that could be a theme for this year.” – Carlos Sainz added.

Despite the drivers’ complaints, the Maranello team was still impressive in the first testing session with the new generation of Formula 1 cars. Only Mercedes, Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin set quicker times in the final session on day three, but with faster tyres or better conditions.