Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner is unconcerned about upcoming Formula 1 rule changes designed to eradicate porpoising. New technical regulations for 2022 re-introduced ground effects into Grand Prix machinery, with a number of teams suffering from the subsequent aerodynamic stalling known as porpoising. The bouncing was a common sight at the start of the season as squads tried to fix the problem without sacrificing ride height and thus performance. Calls were made around the time of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for changes after Lewis Hamilton suffered a back injury and Pierre Gasly went for an MRI scan such was the violence of the phenomenon in Baku. The FIA have been involved to try and broker a compromise which improves safety, but does not overly penalise the teams not affected by porpoising. Horner, whose Red Bull outfit have not been as severely impacted, is confident that his team will adapt.
How the FIA are planning to tackle porpoising
The new rules to combat porpoising have both short-term and long-term challenges for teams to overcome. From the Belgian Grand Prix onwards, tougher checks on the skid blocks and plank wear will be introduced, with a controversial change set for 2023. The ride height will be raised by 15mm for all teams, which is a compromise on the original 25mm suggested. Horner believes Red Bull will be well-placed to tackle the changes, given their history. "A compromise needs to be found, but it's a little bit of a tricky one because that regulation change is massive. It changes the whole concept of the aerodynamics," Horner told RacingNews365.com during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, before the rule change announcement was made. "And it's tricky for the FIA, because where do you draw the line? While there is a safety obligation of the FIA to look into, where does that line stop? "Do we need to seek permission to go from slicks to wet or wet to slicks? If we hit a kerb or not? You've got to be very careful about the unintended consequences of these things."
Horner confident Red Bull are up to the challenge
After the 15mm ride height increase had been agreed, Horner struck a confident tone when speaking exclusively to RacingNews365.com . "[15mm] is not as good as leaving it alone, [but] it's not as bad as the 25mm that was originally [suggested]," he said at the time. "It's a compromise that we're just going to have to incorporate for next year. "We'll just have to deal with it and find a solution. That's what we've been good at over the years, and we'll just have to do that with this challenge."
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