It is no mystery that George Russell as a Mercedes driver and being one of the three directors of the drivers’ association, has assumed a major role in the debate regarding the effects of porpoising on 2022 Formula 1 cars and therefore the health of the drivers, urging the FIA to take action.
Voices in the paddock report a certain concern on the part of the FIA in view of Spa-Francorchamps and Monza regarding porpoising, and therefore the introduction of a metric to establish the vertical oscillations allowed was set precisely for the Belgian Grand Prix. The Briton explained the position taken by the drivers on the issue: “We did an internal vote. I have not seen the results, which can only be accessed by the notary, Alex Wurz and the FIA. The question was: ‘Is porpoising or bouncing affecting you from a health perspective? Do you have more pain after competitions than in previous years? Should the FIA intervene? ‘ I don’t know the exact outcome, but I am convinced that the majority of the drivers said that a change is needed. We as drivers are absolutely in favor, although there can never be a 100% agreement.” – he added.
In the long interview with BBC, the national broadcaster of the United Kingdom, George Russell then provided an interesting point of view on Charles Leclerc’s run-off from the track when he was leading the French Grand Prix last weekend. An accident that surprised everyone for its dynamics, so much so that it did not convince a world champion like Nico Rosberg, doubting the Monegasque’s driving error.
These were George Russell’s thoughts: “Let’s take last Sunday’s race and Charles’ off-track crash. You can clearly hear the porpoising from his on-board: a ‘Tch, tch, tch’ for the entire corner and you can see his head bouncing up and down. Mick Schumacher in free practice had gone out in the same corner, with the car touching the ground with its floor. It is an unnecessary risk and a danger” – he pointed out.
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When asked specifically how much this aspect could have influenced Charles Leclerc’s accident at the Paul Ricard circuit, he reiterated: “Surely that bouncing doesn’t help. We know what the load variation is on our cars, and when we bounce up and down that way we are talking about 50% of its weight. So if the car weighs 700 kg and the variation is 400 kg, we drivers cannot control it because we are talking about 400 kg of variation every half second when you enter the corner. Both crashes in that corner in France were caused by the oscillations when entering the corner.” – the Mercedes driver believes.
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