Porpoising F1 cars could become a safety concern - Russell

The return of ground effect aerodynamics this year as part of a major overhaul to F1’s technical regulations has led to several teams experiencing high-frequency bouncing with their cars at high speeds during the opening pre-season test at Barcelona. 

This phenomenon occurs when the airflow under the car is disrupted or stalls, resulting in loss of downforce and causing the cars to dramatically bounce up and down when reaching a certain speed on the straights. 

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto warned that many teams had “underestimated” the porpoising issue, which he suggested won’t be an easy fix. 

And new Mercedes driver Russell is also concerned about potential safety hazards posed by the phenomenon that has returned to F1 for the first time since the early 1980s. 

“I think it has the potential to be a real safety concern if it gets out of control,” said Russell. 

“Obviously if you’re flat-out down the straight and it starts to happen, you don’t back off in a race scenario. We saw with Charles’s video just how bad it was for them, so I think we all need to find a solution.”

Bumpy road to the top for Charles Leclerc! #F1 pic.twitter.com/Z6a5e6d3bo

— Formula 1 (@F1) February 24, 2022

But Russell is confident that teams will come up with the necessary solutions to combat the problem. 

“I guess if active suspension was there that could be solved with a click of your fingers,” he added. “And the cars would naturally be a hell of a lot faster if we had that and I’m sure all the teams are capable of that. 

“So that could be one for the future. But let’s see in Bahrain. I’m sure all the teams will come up with some smart ideas around this issue.”

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz described it as “annoying”, while AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly admitted it was “not pleasant”. 

However, new Alfa Romeo signing Valtteri Bottas does not share the same concerns as Russell. 

“For now I don’t think it’s a safety issue,” the Finn said during Alfa Romeo’s team launch on Sunday. “I think it’s just the way that the aero of the car works.

“Obviously it’s a fact that the lower you go with the car, the more you have downforce. And if you find a way to have a good ride in the car, being able to run it low, you might gain some performance. But obviously in some places [that comes] with a cost of the ride itself, especially in high speeds and over the bumps.

“So it’s quite an interesting new philosophy on the aero side of the car. I don’t think it’s going to be a big concern. As a team we need to work around it and we need to make sure that the car is reliable enough for these regulations and it’s the same case for every team.

“I think now it’s a big talking point but I would imagine as long as the season starts going, teams are understanding more and more, it’s going to be less of an issue and less of a talking point.”