Emirati former rally driver and current president of the FIA, Mohammed bin Sulayem, has officially confirmed that updated 2023 Technical Regulations will be submitted to the World Motor Sport Council in a few days in order to address the bouncing problem in Formula 1. The FIA president explained that he has talked about this matter with all 20 drivers and ten Formula 1 team bosses.
In the first part of the 2022 Formula 1 championship, porpoising proved to be an issue for some cars, especially the Mercedes W13, with Lewis Hamilton stating several times that he was left in pain at the Baku City Circuit after the first two free practice sessions on Friday. As a result of a few complaints from drivers about the new 2022 Formula 1 challengers bouncing violently at high speed, the FIA initially introduced a new technical directive ahead of the Canadian GP for safety grounds, which was then postponed until the Belgian Grand Prix, the next round of the 2022 championship, scheduled to take place after the summer break.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner admitted that it was not fair to bring changes to the rules and regulations just because one team is encountering more issues than others, pointing the finger at the underperforming, and bouncing, Mercedes.
Christian Horner’s Mercedes’ counterpart Toto Wolff is very well aware of the fact that all teams were either trying to keep a competitive advantage or gain it, but feels that the “situation has clearly gone too far”. He still believes that were all drivers were suffering from this aero design consequence, despite the fact that some drivers confirmed it was not an issue for them:
“Team Principals trying to manipulate what is being said in order to keep the competitive advantage, and trying to play political games when the FIA tries to come up with a quick solution to at least put the cars in a better position, is disingenuous,” Toto Wolff believes – “This is a joint problem we are having as Formula 1… this is a design issue that needs to be solved. We have long-term effects that we can’t even judge. But at any time this is a safety risk and then coming up with little manipulations in the background, or Chinese whispers, or briefing the drivers is just pitiful. Of course people will question whether my position is sincere or not. That’s why I’m saying it’s not only our problem.” – he continued.
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Christian Horner replied: “Ferrari presented its position regarding the TD [technical directive] and Toto is campaigning for a change in regulations – which is somewhat ironic because his car looked quite quick with not a lot of bouncing. And I think it was just pointed out to him that perhaps his issues were within rather than everybody’s issue.” – he concluded.
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