Six Formula 1 teams have opposed the FIA’s porpoising intervention in recent weeks. This has Autosport heard during the Grand Prix weekend in France. earlier Helmut Marko already announced that the changes of the motorsport body are not yet finalizedand now it appears that Red Bull Racing can count on the support of five other teams.
For safety reasons, the FIA wants to measure the degree of bounce of the Formula 1 teams from the Grand Prix of Belgium on the basis of a self-prepared measure. In addition, the FIA wanted to raise the edges of the floor 25 millimeters, raise the ‘throat’ of the diffuser and introduce stricter tests for bends at the floors.
The teams are currently awaiting a detailed proposal of the changes for 2023, but the FIA can already count on resistance before this proposal is on the table. The changes will cost a lot of money. That, combined with the fact that most teams have now minimized porpoising, creates friction between the motorsport body and various teams.
Ferrari and Red Bull are against
No fewer than six teams refuse to accept the FIA’s changes blindly. According to the aforementioned medium, it concerns Ferrari, Red Bull Racing, AlphaTauri, Alfa Romeo, Haas and Williams. They question whether the FIA’s argument – that the changes should be made for safety reasons – is legitimate.
The FIA can make changes from a safety point of view without getting permission from the teams, but there must be a significant risk on a safety basis. It is suggested that several teams do not believe that porpoising falls under this and that they have gone to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem to indicate that they do not agree with the course of events.
Should the FIA not get all noses in the same direction on this matter, Ferrari may decide to use its veto. The FIA cannot then make the change without the permission of the participants. The question is, however, whether this veto can be used to block changes made for justified security reasons. With that, the teams fall back on the aforementioned point: is porpoising a safety problem big enough for the FIA to do its thing?
Fear of Mercedes dominance
So, as mentioned earlier, the primary reason that a majority of teams are concerned is financial. If the teams had to increase the ride height of the cars as much as initially proposed by the FIA, they would have to rethink the design of the 2022 cars, and huge design changes are not possible due to the budget cap.
Teams would be willing to accept smaller adjustments, despite fears of Mercedes’ future dominance. The changes to the floor could especially benefit Mercedes. Mercedes could have pointed out the porpoising problems this year in order to force the FIA to take action.
A team boss, who is not mentioned by name, said: “The changes for 2023 are so extreme because Mercedes states that they have found more than 40 percent of downforce for next year. That is why they have urged the FIA to take action. If that’s really what Mercedes has done, you can already give them that year’s world title.”
