1996 F1 champion says sport's attitude has changed from asking drivers to 'sit on their wallets' to actively seeking measures to improve comfort and reduce porpoising

Damon Hill revealed that the F1 drivers of his era were told to sit on their wallets in order to avoid the discomfort of ground-effect on cars. The Briton praised the FIA for intervening from a safety perspective of porpoising and its effect on driver health.

Reminiscing about the ground-effect cars and the effects of bouncing in the bygone era, Hill spoke to Sky Sports F1, saying:

“When I was racing, nobody cared. It wasn’t really on the agenda. They used to say to the drivers when we first brought in ground effect cars, the team managers used to tell the drivers to sit on their wallets and that might make it a little bit more comfortable. So that was the attitude back then.”

In talking about the attitude towards bouncing and porpoising in the 90s with ground-effect cars, Hill revealed that drivers would be told to sit on their wallets. With improved driver safety and the evolution of the sport, the Briton believes there is more empathy and sympathy towards drivers and their wellbeing. He welcomed the FIA’s intervention by investigating the safety of the cars, given the debate over porpoising in F1.

Speaking of driver safety in the modern era of F1, Hill said:

“I don’t suppose there is much sympathy for racing drivers. They get paid well for what they do and they’re enjoying it, but the problem is: could this have a long-term effect?"

Hill elaborated:

"So, similarly in rugby and other sports, we’ve looked at how the driver or the athlete can have effects later in life. We don’t want to injure the drivers so the FIA is taking this very seriously and then they will instigate further motions later.”

---

Damon Hill is suspicious of the comments made by Mercedes about porpoising in F1

On the suggestion of Mercedes complaining more than others, Hill was suspicious of their comments. He recognised that the noise of porpoising from other drivers and teams was lesser. The 1996 F1 champion felt maybe Lewis Hamilton’s comments about porpoising in Baku were extreme and had an underlying agenda.

However, the Sky Sports pundit acknowledged the importance of addressing the long-term effects of porpoising on drivers and prioritising driver safety. Commenting on Mercedes' complaints about porpoising and bouncing, Hill said:

“There was a little bit of suggestion that maybe Mercedes were complaining because they were suffering more than anybody. But it does seem that there’s more noises coming from the drivers and other teams."

Hill added:

"Also, the FIA have been monitoring the vertical acceleration that these guys are subjected to. So that means that the amount of upwards and downwards movement and also bottoming because the cars are now whacking the ground. So, these poor drivers.”

Suspicious about Hamilton’s comments, the former F1 driver said:

“Lewis has made some comments to the fact that he could have maybe crashed in places like Baku and clearly you always temper because the quotes from the drivers - you wonder whether or not they’re over egging the pudding to try to make some other advantage."

He continued:

"We can see now that data is recorded on the drives from the cockpit, and the FIA can see whether they’re actually telling the truth or not. But the fact of the matter is we don’t know what the maybe long-term effects to whether someone’s spine get injured or their neck gets injured or their brain, even. So it’s a bit of an imponderable at the moment.”

As the porpoising debate continues in F1, Mercedes have been accused of making it a larger issue in an attempt to push for a mid-season rule change. Although the FIA intervened to resolve the issue, teams have been suspicious about the timing of the intervention. The majority suggested that the Silver Arrows squad could have had prior knowledge as they added a second stay on the floor of their car in Canada.