FORMULA 1 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX 2022: ▄▀▄▀▄▀ RACE ▄▀▄▀▄▀

Insane. So how come Mercedes was allowed to upgrade earlier this year?

 

Pole is normally set more on the racing line, depending on the track, it may or may not be on the inside of turn 1.

 

I agree.
It could have been expected that the new FIA President, MBS would have brought up with him an era of transparency.

But it doesn't seem so; it's business as usual it seems, and the decisions are still made behind closed doors.

 

Honestly, it’s hard not to think that the fix is in.

 

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/gasly-f1-needs-to-stop-drivers-ending-up-with-a-cane-at-30/10321682/

Gasly: F1 needs to stop drivers "ending up with a cane at 30"
Pierre Gasly called on the FIA to "save us from ending up with a cane at 30 years old" after drivers reported physical struggles due to extreme porpoising in Baku.

The new generation of F1 cars for 2022 marked the return of ground effect, requiring them to be set up running as low as possible to the ground. This has resulted in a porpoising phenomenon for the cars when hitting high speeds, impacting the majority of teams.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix race weekend saw the issue reach a new height as a number of drivers reported back pain due to their cars bouncing, particularly at the end of the long start/finish straight.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton said he was "holding and biting down on my teeth due to the pain" in the race, while team boss Toto Wolff said F1 needed to find a solution to prevent possible injuries amid fears it could force drivers to skip races.

Gasly crossed the line fifth for AlphaTauri in Baku, recording his best result of the season so far, but admitted he had never found a race to be so "brutal" through his F1 career.

"It's not healthy, that's for sure," Gasly said. "I've had a physio session before and after every session, just because my [spinal] discs are suffering from it. You have literally no suspension. It just hits going through your spine.

"The team is asking me, 'OK, we can compromise the setup?' and I'm compromising my health for the performance.

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Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG, in Parc Ferme

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

"And I'll always do it, because I'm a driver and I always go for the fastest car I can. But I don't think FIA should put us in a corner where you got to deal between health and performance.

"That's the tricky part of it, and clearly not sustainable. So that's what we discussed at the drivers' briefing and kind of alerted them on this problem, and try to ask them to find solutions to save us from ending up with a cane at 30 years old."

Hamilton said after the race in Baku that the porpoising was so bad that he feared he would lose control of his car due to the bouncing, while teammate George Russell said he struggled to hit braking points at times.

Gasly acknowledged he could see the impact that porpoising was having on the car as the mirrors were "shaking like hell", meaning that visibility got "really poor".

"Also sometimes the car is moving on its own, just because the steering is shaking," Gasly said.

"At such speed, it's not easy. I don't think they can fix something until the end of the year. But hopefully for next year."

 

Mercedes are going to the FIA because of the porpoising and want change.

One team has fixed it.

I suggest everyone else should fix their porpoising issue instead of running to the FIA.

 

Meh, not impressed. Athletes always compromise their health for performance. Otherwise, the cars would carry 2 tons of safety gear. They'd drive around at 35 mph and never risk an accident.

 

Mercedes is going to the FIA because their car is a dud.

 

Hummm

Alpha Tauri belongs to Red Bull, and I presume there is some sort of technical exchange between them.

So, if Red Bull is the team that fixed porpoising, how is it they didn't pass on their knowledge to their junior team?

Maybe fixing porpoising isn't as easy as some pretend?

 

Karun Chandhok spotted this weekend that Mercedes runs their car the lowest of everyone else. For a team that complains very loudly about porpoising, and knowing that running a car lower makes the problem worse, I seriously hope he FIA takes that into full consideratiton.

Red Bull run their car relatively high. Presumably, if Red Bull runs their car as low as Mercedes, they too would have porpoising issues. What has previously been conceived that Red Bull solved the issue due to some genius trickery, seems like it was a very simple solution of raising the ride height. They compromised.

Now here the story gets really interesting:

GPblog.com | Russell: 'I think even Mercedes voted against the porpoising solution'

It seems a vote was held for a solution on porpoising, and Mercedes voted against it. Isn't that ironic? My guess is it was a minimum ride height. Adding 1 and 2 together....well. One can jump to a pretty logical conclusion.

Canada coming up. Wall of champions. But of course a low speed corner. Will porpoising excuse be used when someone crashed?

 

Mercedes had the most sophisticated suspension setup from 2014 thru 2021.

Why can't a team like Mercedes fix their porpoising issue with their suspension??

 

Hydraulics have left...Conventional setup now!

Their issue will be fixed if they raise their ride height. Their problem is that they'll lose performance and struggle to get into Q3. They'll have to compromise, simple as that. Performance and risk their drivers health (their words) or raise their ride height and sacrifice results?

It shouldn't be anyone elses problem if they ****ed up their car.

 

Cost cap. I guess FIA needs to help that too lol. New Formula is a mess. Following with little passing. Bouncing, little development due to cost cap etc etc. Still have ridiculous engine limit on development and limited number of units. Such a PINNACLE LOL

 

Close following is great. Easy passing is not.

Cost cap isn't at fault for this. It's Mercedes making a dud and refusing to compromise. They run their car lowest, they get the most bouncing. Quite simple.

 

There's something I didn't know. Thanks for the update.

So we're back to springs and dampers then???

Agree, it's Mercedes and others to fix their porpoising problem.

 

+1

 

Agree
Too easy now their car isn’t competitive coming and asking for rules change.
This is THEIR problem.

 

In the porpoising sage, Mercedes is singled out as the team that can't fix its cars, but it seems that other teams have the same issue if we believe the drivers who dare to speak out. Gasly did recently.
The porpoising problem isn't a "Mercedes only" problem, since most other cars show the same symptoms, but maybe they are the most vehement about it.

I have read on this forum people stil saying this new formula is a success, simply because they enjoy Mercedes being in trouble.
I agree it's a freaking mess, and now the budget cap has replaced the token system, so we are back to the start.
Teams can't work on solutions, and Ferrari isn't allowed to solve its engine reliability.

 

Just like the engine unreliability is Ferrari's problem ?

 

Gasly trying to please Mercedes because his future is compromised inside the Red Bull galaxy.

 

Exactly
Reliability modifications are allowed by the rules.
Hydraulic suspensions aren’t.

 

Is that comment valid for Alpha Tauri too ? Galsy finished 5th at Baku and complained about the bouncing too.

 

Exactly!

 

Wow, that's quite a long shot !!!

I guess Toto was impressed by that.

 

It looks like Ferrari has been turned down for those by the FIA.