F1 drivers react to the FIA's technical directive on porpoising

The FIA's technical directive on F1 cars' porpoising has generated a lot of intrigue and various number of viewpoints. Teams have aired their opinions, with Christian Horner not being entirely happy with the FIA having the autonomy to change the car's setups going into a race.

At the same time, however, the key stakeholders in this, the drivers have made their opinions known as well. Let's take a look at what they had to say about the FIA's intervention.

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George Russell (Mercedes)

The Mercedes driver was pleased with the swift reaction from the FIA as he welcomed the changes on the grounds of safety. He said:

“It’s promising to see that they’ve made action on this straight away and it’s not taken them weeks and months and political decisions to change something like this. When it comes to safety, things need to be resolved asap. So I’m pleasantly…not surprised to see it come in so quick, but I think it’s good for everyone.”

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Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)

Pierre Gasly, another one of the more vocal critics of bouncing, was happy that something had been done as he emphasized how tough it was for the drivers to pull through the challenges posed by these cars. He said:

“Putting the interest of any F1 teams or any car aside, we all say this is clearly too much. You can’t realise what it’s like, just watching from onboards or watching from outside. Once you are driving the car and you get hit for an hour-and-a-half driving at 330km/h [205mph], then it’s a whole different perception once you actually experience what it is.”

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Kevin Magnussen (Haas F1)

Kevin Magnussen from Haas F1 too weighed in on the subject and agreed that the FIA stepping in was the right thing to do as sometimes in F1, teams can get in their own way when it comes to safety. He said:

“That’s kind of why they’re there, it’s part of their job to step in because we can’t leave it up to the teams. Teams are always going to do what’s best for them, which is natural, and everyone should expect everyone to do that. That’s how it is. So that’s why the FIA is there, to step in as the grown up and make sure things are right.”

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Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

The reigning world champion was not entirely happy with the FIA's intervention as he felt that something like this should be left to the teams to tackle themselves. He said:

“You know, for me, regardless if it’s going to help us or work against us, I think always these rule changes in the middle of the year, I don’t think it’s correct. Of course, I understand the safety part of it but I think if you talk to every engineer and in the paddock, if you raise your car, you will have less issues anyway.”

He added:

“But of course, naturally think ourselves but also the team, you know, you’re going to try to find the limit of what you can cope with, your body itself, for performance, but I don’t think it’s correct that now they have to intervene and start applying these kind of rules that if you can’t deal with the porpoising that you have to go up on ride height, because it is very simple: just go up on ride height and you won’t have these issues. So makes it a little bit complicated. I think it will also be very hard to police in a way. But we’ll see.”

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Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

F1 title challenger Charles Leclerc mirrored the opinions shared by Red Bull's Max Verstappen. The Ferrari driver made his stance clear as he claimed that he did not completely agree with it as this was something that F1 teams needed to deal with, not the FIA. He said:

“I don’t completely agree, on my side. I felt like it’s the team’s responsibility to give me a car that is okay to drive. Until now, I didn’t have any particular problems with it. Yes, it is stiffer than last year’s car. Whether it’s undriveable or very hard on myself, I don’t think it is – at least personally. So, on our side, we found solutions to how to make it better.”

The technical directive was supposed to be applicable by FP3 but it has now been pushed back as the FIA gathers more data around it. Having said that, the FIA's swiftness should be applauded. It remains to be seen how efficacious the directive is for the drivers.