Searcy, AR (LP) — Formula 1’s new germination of cars finally hit the track during their pre-season testing in Barcelona and this being modern f1 the drivers and teams went into the test with plenty of experience of their behavior, thanks to the various simulation technologies available to them, but there was one element that proved very difficult to simulate as effectively as F1 teams can with other aspects of the car it’s only when the car gets out into the real world that teams can understand whether they are suffering from this issue. “I think the most of us least underestimated  the problem. We are bouncing more than expected.” said Max Verstappen the problem is known as porpoising and it a phenomenon that was a problem during F1’s last ground effect era in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. At its worst it can result in damage to the floor and give the drivers a headache some teams have struggled with porpoising and it’s variants during pre-season testing in Spain, so what exactly is causing it? Why is it so hard to detect and how can teams solve their problems?

So, what is Porpoising? Porpoising is a phenomena that isn’t limited to racing cars, boats, and landing aircraft among others can also suffer from it. These 2022 cars are ground effect machines that means they achieve much of their down force through the ground effect tunnels in the underfloor these use the Venturi effect to compress and expand airflow. “We knew certainly that the ground effect situation would be different, it’s a learning process,” said Max Verstappen. To increase it’s speed and create a low pressure area and that works fine when the car is in a steady state, but as the car builds speed the underfloor works harder and the car compresses add to the equation some bumps that might increases compression at the rear and you run the risk of triggering porpoising.

Lastly, How can you fit the car to stop porpoising? First and foremost you have to understand what is causing the car purpose while the effect and the board cause is well understood to tackle the problem requires a detailed grasp not the symtoms but the orgin of the problem, and this can lie in amy different parts of the car, It’s also necessary not only to fix the problem but to do so without sacrificing performance that’s the really difficult.