Red Bull Racing F1 team principal Christian Horner says he is not worried about the F1 regulation changes planned to eradicate porpothing.
The new F1 regulations for 2022 reintroduced the ground effect effect into the new generation of F1 cars, with many F1 teams suffering from the ensuing aerodynamic stall known as porpoise.
Bouncing was common early in the season as F1 teams tried to solve the problem without sacrificing performance by raising the car.
The F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, a street circuit, sparked calls for changes to the FIA after Lewis Hamilton suffered a back injury and Pierre Gasly underwent an MRI scan.
The FIA has tried to compromise between improving safety and not imposing excessive penalties on F1 teams unaffected by the porpassing.
Red Bull Racing F1 team principal Christian Horner, who has been less affected by Porpassing, is confident the team can handle it.
The new rules to combat porpassing have short-term and long-term challenges that F1 teams will have to overcome.
Since the Belgian Grand Prix, stricter checks for skid block and plank wear have been introduced, with a controversial F1 regulation change scheduled for 2023.
All F1 cars will be 15mm higher, a compromise of the originally proposed 25mm.
Christian Horner believes Red Bull Racing’s history makes it good at tackling such changes.
“You have to find a middle ground, but it’s a bit tricky because the regulation change is massive. The whole concept of aerodynamics changes,” Horner told RacingNews365 of the F1 regulation changes.
“It’s tricky for the FIA, because where do you draw the line? The FIA has a safety duty to investigate, but where does that line stop?”
“Do I have to ask permission to go from slick to wet or wet to slick? Can I hit the curb? We have to be very careful about these unintended consequences.”
Also, about raising the car height by 15mm, Christian Horner said, “15mm is not negligible, but it’s not as bad as the 25mm that was originally proposed.”
“This is a compromise that we have to adopt for next year. We have to deal with it and find a solution.”
“That’s what we’ve been good at for years and we need to do that with this challenge.”
