F1 teams were caught by surprise at last week’s pre-season Barcelona test by the way that their cars suffered some extreme bouncing down the straights, thanks to the aero properties of the 2022 challengers.
The phenomenon, which also occurred the last time ground effect was in F1 in the early 1980’s, is trigged by downforce pushing the car further and further down on to the track at high speed before the airflow suddenly stalls – and the car then rises up thanks to the immediate loss in load.
The cycle of the car moving up and down then repeats itself all the way down the straight – and is nicknamed ‘porpoising’ because it is similar to the way that porpoises rise in and out of the water when swimming.
Teams are now currently working at their factories to try to get on top of the issue ahead of the start of the season, but the situation is not helped by F1 banning the sophisticated hydraulic suspension systems that were allowed before.
Russell, whose own team had to…
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