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Bottas fears injuries from porpoising: 'It's never been this bad'

Bottas fears injuries from porpoising: 'It's never been this bad'

15-06-2022 19:47 Last update: 21:54
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GPblog.com

Coincidence or not, former Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas is concerned about the effects that porpoising has on drivers. His old team in particular is bothered by it and is hoping for a rule change to address the bouncing. The other teams are not eager for that.

Injuries

To the BBC Bottas said he fears that drivers will soon be seriously injured by porpoising. The back pain Lewis Hamilton suffered during the race in Baku is a first indication of this. "[I'm] not sure how sustainable that is in the future and we start to actually see injuries of drivers just by driving the cars - that's not how it should be", Bottas said.

According to the Finn, the drivers in Baku have already spoken to the FIA about the bouncing. Bottas says that it has been indicated that the drivers want to think about how to counteract porpoising. By the way, porpoising is nothing new, but Bottas says it has never been as bad as now.


Not enthusiastic

Red Bull Racing, for example, is not eager to change the regulations because it plays into the hands of competitor Mercedes. Porpoising is caused by the floor of the car being sucked so close to the ground at high speed that downforce is temporarily lost. Red Bull says Mercedes should simply raise the car's height, but that they won't do so because it would be at the expense of their speed