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Porpoising F1 cars could be safety concern for some teams

Porpoising F1 cars could be safety concern for some teams

Teams got their first chance to properly run their new cars this week at the opening pre-season test in Barcelona, having been limited to filming days up to now.

One phenomenon that emerged as testing got underway was porpoising, where a stall in the downforce being generated by ground effect would cause the cars to bounce up and down when reaching a certain speed on the straights.

This was last seen in the early 1980s when F1 last had ground effect as part of the aerodynamic regulations.

PLUS: How a 1980s design phenomenon has trapped F1’s new rules in a tough spot on car safety

Ferrari F1 chief Mattia Binotto said on Thursday that teams had underestimated the impact it would have, but he was hopeful it would be “quite straightforward” to resolve.

The Mercedes was noted as being one of the cars that appeared to be most affected by the porpoising issue, with Russell and team-mate Lewis Hamilton sharing duties through each day of running.

“I think you can see some quite…

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