Home F1 FIA issues new technical directive to tackle the porpoising issue

FIA, F1 — BAKU, AZERBAIJAN - JUNE 12: Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving the (16) Ferrari F1-75 locks a wheel under braking as he battle for track position with Sergio Perez of Mexico driving the (11) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB18 at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on June 12, 2022 in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202206120229 // Usage for editorial use only //

FIA issues new technical directive to tackle the porpoising issue

16/06/2022

The FIA has issued a new technical directive to tackle the porpoising issue and growing health issue faced by F1 drivers.

With the health problem growing among F1 drivers due to the extreme amount of porpoising, the FIA has finally issues a new technical directive to tackle the issue which will help in lowering the bouncing and thereby limiting the back problems.

As per the technical directive, the FIA will look at the planks and skids of the cars, both in terms of design and its wear. Additionally, they are looking at acceptable level of the vertical oscillations whereby they have invited teams to contribute to the determine it.

The current steps are being taken for short to medium term measures and it was decided to address this issue after consultation with the doctors in terms of the safety of the F1 drivers. A lot of them complained of extreme pain after the Baku event.

Here’s the FIA statement:

A Technical Directive has been issued to give guidance to the teams about the measures the FIA intends to take to tackle the problem. These include:

1. Closer scrutiny of the planks and skids, both in terms of their design and the observed wear

2. The definition of a metric, based on the car’s vertical acceleration, that will give a quantitative limit for acceptable level of vertical oscillations. The exact mathematical formula for this metric is still being analysed by the FIA, and the Formula 1 teams have been invited to contribute to this process.

In addition to these short-term measures, the FIA will convene a technical meeting with the Teams in order to define measures that will reduce the propensity of cars to exhibit such phenomena in the medium term.

The FIA has decided to intervene following consultation with its doctors in the interests of safety of the drivers. In a sport where the competitors are routinely driving at speeds in excess of 300km/h, it is considered that all of a driver’s concentration needs to be focused on that task and that excessive fatigue or pain experienced by a driver could have significant consequences should it result in a loss of concentration. In addition, the FIA has concerns in relation to the immediate physical impact on the health of the drivers, a number of whom have reported back pain following recent events.

More to come