24/02/2022
NEWS STORY
Ferrari boss, Mattia Binotto has admitted that teams have been caught out by the porpoising phenomenon that has affected a number of drivers in Barcelona.
While it was mainly Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes that was affected by the phenomenon on Wednesday, a number of teams were also compromised by the process by which the car bounces on its suspension as it momentarily loses downforce then gains it again as the flow of air going underneath the car stalls at a certain speed, and as a result have made changes to their floors overnight.
Other than compromising performance, the bouncing is not a pleasant experience for the drivers.
Worst affected is thought to be the Alfa Romeo, which, like Red Bull, has brought in a new floor overnight.
During the sport's previous ground effect era the phenomenon was commonplace yet as the sport sought to return to ground effect as part of the rules overhaul the impact appeared to have been ignored. Then again, on the simulator or in the windtunnel the effect of porpoising wouldn't be noticeable.
Nonetheless, Mattia Binotto admits the teams should have been prepared for the possibility and have underestimated the threat.
"I think most of us at least underestimated the problem, in terms of being on track and bouncing more than expected," he said.
"When you're setting these cars up with the ground effect floor, the situation it's different. It's a learning process," he added.
"I think that solving it can be quite straightforward," he continued. "Optimising the performance, because it should not be a compromise, you should try to avoid the bouncing by getting the most of the performance of the car. But that could be a less easy exercise.
"I am pretty sure that at some stage the team will get to the solution. How long it will take? The ones that will get there sooner will have an advantage at the start of the season," he admitted.