FIA takes action against porpoising

Poetic justice if that's the case, IMO. They brought attention to themselves.

Now that the FIA has decided on a technical directive, I am curious to see how it will be implemented until the end of the season.

 

NO NO NO, THAT IS SO WRONG! This is NOT about HAM or the team managers. This is all an evil plan to take away George Russell's top 5 streak!!!!

 

How dare they think independently of Ham/Wolff !

 

I don't see this as irony. RB will obviously have to raise their car slightly so they aren't sparking quite so much at the end of the straight, but that wasn't due to excessive porpoising, it was just good car design that allowed their ride height to compress under downforce without bouncing. RB will have to raise slightly, Ferrari will likely have to raise a bit more to stop the tendency to porpoise and that rubbish Mercedes car will have to raise a lot, but at least they'll be able to give it some suspension travel. I'm actually starting to think the Merc won't even be all that slow, they went down a stupid path of no return and this directive will force them to actually come up with proper solutions instead of just slamming the car on the road with no suspension.

 

It's just a few more parameters added to the technical rules, and everyone has to submit to them.

I thought Red Bull wasn't affected by porpoising ...

 

All that seems fine and dandy to me.
Every team will have to comply to a new directive and no one will be able to BS anymore: the sensors will be the verdict.
Mercedes engineers won't like it because now the fingers will be pointed at them for persevering in a blind alley.
For several GPs they have been posting videos on Youtube to justify their choice, and explain what a good job they were doing !
So, the scrutiny the teams refused last year is finaly imposed on them. Bravo !!
Let's see if the FIA is as robust keeping the budget cap, in spite of the howling of some team principals.

 

Exactly, the rules will still be the same for everyone.

 

No, what did he said?

 

Did you also read what the journo who wrote the article said? "He may have no choice "

I am not sure the drivers are always allowed to speak freely. I am pretty sure some of them have to follow the party line.

It doesn' matter what one say, or the other, you never have unanimity of opinions.

The FIA has decided on a course of action, and I am happy with that.

 

It doesn't matter if it did or not. Everybody is allowed to have an opinion? including Leclerc.

What are you trying to say? The FIA made a decision that doesn't please everyone. What's new?

The only way to stop this circus was for MBS to crack the whip. THis is not a popularity contest.

 

Yes, I ignore opinions; I prefer to deal with facts.

And I read in Motorsport.com (French version) an article that says the "majority of drivers approves of the FIA intervention" in the porpoising issue.
In short, the FIA is forcing the teams to do what they refused to do, and that's largely welcome by the drivers, apparently.

I can't wait to see how the FIA will enforce its technical directive, and I don't really care it that send a flee in the ears of Toto, Horner, Binotto or others !

BTW, there is apparently provision in the FIA statutes for changing rules in the middle of a season for reason of FORCE MAJEURE which could translate as Absolute Necessity, perhaps?

 

I read on the BBC that Mercedes technical director is visiting Montreal today.
James Allison usually doesn't attend GPs, so it must be some sort of emmergency. .
One journo asked him about the state of play following the FIA's decision.
Allison replies: "At Mercedes, we didn't see the porpoising problem coming; We have taken step to eliminate it"

You cannot make any sense of what people are saying these days.

BTW, what is my "agenda" ?

 

I assume you don't race? Granted I am only a SCCA clubracer but I'm a pretty advanced amateur. We live and die by the rule book. We need rules stability. It is very costly even at our level to build to rule changes. Any midseason change can and does have unintended consequences for teams and drivers. These rules have been coming for a long time. It took a long time to engineer the cars to meet the formula. So FIA is right to make a ruling to ensure safety but minimize rule changes. From what I read I can't think of anything the FIA could have done to walk that fine line.

The technical directive is easy to obtain. The cars already have the sensors and software to generate the data to monitor the FIA target number. It would take some time and thinking but dumb old clubracer me could probably generate such data for my own car with available data recorders and sensors available to us unwashed masses.

 

Now you see you cannot trust what people say !

I have no agenda at all. I don't care who wins !! It would be fine with me if Max and RB win.
They have recovered from initial gremlins, and I think the odds are in their favour. .
But I cannot understand Horner's yelping about an issue that he claims doesn't affect his cars!
If the Red Bulls don't porpoise, he won't be affected by any detection, will he?
The big loser is Mercedes, IMO.

 

The technical directive may eventually force some teams to alter their settings (something they were reluctant to do) as a palliative to avoid porpoising and mostly bottoming. That shouldn't be costly, although it may reduce performance drastically.
F1 cars are redesigned every year, and I guess these issues will have to be taken more seriously for the next generation of cars.
Ground effect isn't cracked at the first trial, and it may take some years before it is fully understood by all the teams.

 

It doesn't effect him now.

But if mid/in season rules changes go without resistance then what's to stop performance rule changes as well? It is trying to limit the slippery slope that may form... especially since RB is likely to have the biggest target on their back now.

 

Exactly! A plank can bring irrefutable proof that a car is bottoming, thus not respecting the minimum dynamic ride height.
Sensors will measure the frequency and the intensity of the vertical accelarations (how many Gs).
I suppose the FIA will reach its conclusion soon, and start to impose parameters, then check planks and read sensors regularly.
How it will deal with the offenders will be interesting to watch; will the FIA exclude cars that fail the checks?
I expect much belly-aching and lamenting there from the usual comedians.