Formula 1 Racing

More Formula 1 drivers concerned about health issues from porpoising

More Formula 1 drivers concerned about health issues from porpoising

The issue of car porpoising has become particularly prevalent after a tortuous Azerbaijan Grand Prix for some of the drivers.

McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo has added his voice to support calls for a rule change to target a reduction in the severity of car porpoising.

The current F1 rules, which have seen a switch to a ground-effect concept, have resulted in a new phenomenon known as ‘porpoising’. This is where the airflow flowing underneath the car, which creates the suction to pull the car down to the ground, suddenly runs out of room as the car lowers with speed. This results in an air stall.

The stall results in the car losing the generated suction and springing back into the air, allowing the air to flow again – only for the cycle to repeat with increasing violence as a car increases in speed.

All of the cars are suffering from the issue to varying degrees. The likes of Red Bull appear to have a good handle on it but Mercedes and Ferrari have struggled badly with the phenomenon – albeit with very different levels of pace.

As the season progresses, the complaints from the drivers have increased. Haas’ Kevin Magnussen has struggled with nerve pain since encountering the problem, while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz has pondered the effects on drivers’ long-term health.

Ricciardo spoke about the issue after a gruelling race in Baku, in which the Australian appeared physically the worse for wear after coming home in eighth place.

“Yeah, we do [have porpoising],” Ricciardo told Sky F1.

“Certainly the wind or something changed, but it got worse and worse. I sympathise with everyone that’s had it now because it’s bad. Like I genuinely feel rattled, so I’ll definitely help out when people talk about it.

“I feel like, you know in pro basketball when players bounce the ball really…

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