"It is considered to be a significant safety matter"- FIA puts forward key changes to 'reduce porpoising' in 2023 F1 season

The FIA has put forward key changes to reduce the impact of porpoising on the new generation of F1 cars from the 2023 season onwards, despite opposition from several teams.

The motorsport governing body believes that the issue is a “significant matter” that needs to be addressed as per its commitments to ensure driver safety. In a statement released following the 2022 F1 Austrian GP, it said:

“The FIA reaffirmed its strong commitment to reduce and hopefully eliminate the issue in the near term, as it is considered to be a significant safety matter.”

“It is the responsibility and the prerogative of the FIA to intervene for safety matters, and the reason the regulations allow such measures to be taken is precisely to allow decisions to be taken without being influenced by the competitive position each team may find themselves in.”

Currently, four major changes to the regulations have been submitted to the World Motorsport Council for approval. Two of these changes are aerodynamic in nature and are meant to prevent the floor from stalling. These are: floor edges are raised by 25mm from the current limit and the “throat” of the under-floor diffuser is also raised.

Meanwhile, the impact of porpoising has lessened in the last few races. F1 teams that were previously affected by issues such as Mercedes and Alpha Tauri seem to have found solutions to keep the phenomenon at bay.

Regardless, the FIA intends to push through with changes to the regulations to eliminate the issue from returning in the future. Furthermore, the FIA believes that the absence of porpoising in previous races might also be due to the nature of the circuits, hence, it expects the phenomenon to return in upcoming races.

The FIA also intends to introduce more stringent compliance tests and more accurate sensors from the upcoming season onwards to keep teams from using flexible parts to overcome these limitations.

---

FIA proposes “short-term” solutions to prevent F1 cars from porpoising

While the proposed changes to the regulations are set to take effect from 2023, the FIA is also planning to introduce several “short-term” solutions to reduce the impact of porpoising by mid-2022.

One such solution is to require teams to stiffen their cars’ skid boards, starting with the 2022 F1 Belgian GP.

Furthermore, the FIA has also said that it intends to clarify details of how the stiffness of the skid boards is measured before the summer break.