Max Verstappen blames Formula 1 teams for their porpoising issues and claims it is their ‘fault’
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Published 17/06/2022 at 14:28 GMT
Max Verstappen has revealed ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix that he thinks it is a "shame" that the FIA have introduced new regulations halfway through a season. At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last week, it was clear how much the porpoising issues where affecting the drivers physically as the 'bouncing' of the cars were causing serious injuries and that forced the FIA to intervene before too late.
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Reigning world champion and current championship leader, Max Verstappen, has hit back at the FIA’s decision to implement new regulations to combat the evident porpoising issues.
Ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, the FIA have announced their intention to succumb to the concerns made by fellow drivers on the physical harm that the ‘bouncing’ of the cars is causing.
Especially after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last week, the cry for the FIA to intervene and find a solution to the issue became overwhelming as drivers were visibly struggling and hurting.
The team that has raised the most concern and had the most trouble with the porpoising issue is Mercedes, which was clear as Lewis Hamilton clambered out of his car after finishing fourth in Baku behind team-mate George Russell.
Verstappen told Racer: “I think it’s a bit disappointing that again there is a rule change mid-season, I would say.
“It’s not even about affecting us more or less than other teams, but it shouldn’t be that one team is complaining a lot and suddenly then they change the regs around it.
“I think there are a lot of teams that actually did an amazing job to not have these kinds of issues, so it is possible to drive around it.
“If you raise your car then you won’t have these issues, but you lose performance. But if you can’t design the car properly for that then that’s your fault, it’s not the regs' fault. For me, that is a bit of a shame.
“Of course, every track is different, but I think it’s a bit of a shame to change it mid-season and clearly teams have shown you can drive normally, or at least with a lot less issues than some other teams.”
Verstappen leads the current World Championship with 150 points and has won four of the last five races, which has seen him take control of the drivers standings and Red Bull warn off the threat from Ferrari.
Ferrari do have reliability issues with their engine which was on show in Azerbaijan, with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc both having to retire their cars. However, both Red Bull and Ferrari are the two teams who seem to have limited the ‘bouncing’ that other cars are experiencing.
Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly told Motorsport that: “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.
“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.”
Well, ironically, the continuous pressure and comments from F1 teams and drivers do seem to have had an effect and forced the FIA to act within just a week.
The FIA are believed to have organised a meeting in Montreal this week ahead of the Canada Grand Prix to discuss how to implement the new regulations to combat the porpoising issues.
However, don’t expect to see a sudden change in performance as the Montreal circuit provides a similar surface to the one we saw Baku last week, which means we could see a continuation of the porpoising.
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