30/06/2022
NEWS STORY
Originally intended to be introduced this weekend, the FIA has opted to delay the introduction of the so-called 'bouncing limit' until the French Grand Prix late next month.
Ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, a technical directive was sent out to the teams following the amount of bouncing witnessed over the course of the Baku weekend.
While much of this was down to the porpoising phenomenon, the bouncing, which led to widespread complaints from the drivers, was also blamed on the stiffness of the cars.
The technical directive made clear that the measures the FIA intended to take in relation to the bouncing included closer scrutiny of the planks and skids, both in terms of their design and the observed wear, and the establishing of a metric, based on the car's vertical acceleration, that would give a quantitative limit for acceptable level of bouncing (vertical oscillations).
Admitting that the exact mathematical formula for the metric was still being analysed, plans to introduce it in Canada were scrapped and its introduction delayed until this weekend at Silverstone.
However, in a brief statement today, and following discussions with the teams, the FIA has announced that the metric will not be introduced until the French Grand Prix which takes place on 24 July.
"The FIA's analysis of vertical oscillation data has concluded, and we have defined a metric by which to monitor this," said the statement.
"The update has been sent to teams to allow them to conduct their own analysis over the next two grands prix to understand what, if any, changes they may need to implement in order to be compliant when the technical directive becomes effective as of the French Grand Prix."
Confirming new limits relating to the wear of the plank and to the stiffness of the underbody titanium skid plates, "which are inherently related to the same issue, and go hand-in-hand with the metric", the FIA said "these changes are necessary in order to provide a level playing field between the teams when the metric is implemented".
Check out our Thursday gallery from Silverstone here.