Scuderia Ferrari test driver and brand ambassador Marc Gene confirmed that the Italian side will be evaluating and looking for a solution after the “annoying” bouncing affected the SF-23 cars at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, especially Carlos Sainz.
Some new measures were taken before the start of the 2023 Formula One championship to address the porpoising matter which proved to be a problem in 2022 following the introduction of the new generation of cars. The new regulation included the introduction of some rule changes in terms of ride heights.
However, some cars still seem to be affected by the aerodynamic effect, even more than last year in Ferrari’s case, with Carlos Sainz being the most affected in the second part of the Bahrain Grand Prix last weekend.
“It wasn’t like the porpoising that we’ve seen in the past,” Marc Gene explained in a recent interview for the F1 Nation podcast – “But he had some bouncing, it’s true. [It] was a bit annoying, because that’s something that annoys the driver. So that’s something I’m sure they’re going to look at.” – the Ferrari brand ambassador continued.
Tyre problem not identified in pre-season testing
In addition to the porpoising issue, Scuderia Ferrari also encountered more difficulties in the season-opener, with tyre degradation prevented Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz from matching the race pace of Red Bull and at times even Aston Martin. Marc Gene pointed out that this situation was not experienced three weeks ago in the official pre-season testing session at the same venue:
“For us, a podium would have been a very good result,” the Spaniard confirmed at the end of the Bahrain Grand Prix, which was marked by the retirement of Charles Leclerc as a result of power unit issues and a fourth place for Carlos Sainz.
“Unfortunately, that [did not happen] today and, honestly, it was looking good [before]. Even at some points, with the Soft compound – which was the compound we were expecting [to be] the worst for us – Charles was quite strong. Then we put the Hard compound [on]. We were expecting it to be the good compound for us and we were nowhere. What we saw in the pre-season testing, we didn’t see today on the tyres. We were aiming for the podium and I think Charles would eventually have got it, not with a margin, but I think he would have had the pace, so it was very disappointing to miss out both for Charles and then of course for Carlos.” – the Ferrari test driver and brand ambassador concluded.
