Charles Leclerc’s F1-75 also “hopped” over the Formula 1 track in Melbourne at times, but the Ferrari driver says: “I’m not very sensitive to it “
Even after three races of the season, “porpoising” remains a problem in Formula One. However, not all teams and drivers suffer equally from the visible bouncing of the cars. Charles Leclerc, for example, also suffered from the phenomenon at the Australian Grand Prix, but it did not affect him too much.
“I don’t know why, but I’m not very sensitive to it,” says the Ferrari driver, when asked about the “bouncing” F1-75. “It looks extreme on the onboard footage. And of course I feel it. But it doesn’t bother me too much in terms of performance, just maybe a little bit in turn 9.”
Still, the Melbourne race winner insists, “It’s definitely something we want to tackle because it doesn’t help us with consistency. Especially once you bounce in a corner, it can be a problem. So that’s something we need to work on. “
In Melbourne, however, it was not an issue for him, he said. “I wouldn’t have been able to go any faster if I didn’t have the touchdown,” explained the Monegasque. “On the restart it was a bit difficult because I had it before turn 1. That’s when you’re not so sure in the brakes. But everything went well. But of course it’s not really comfortable to do 58 laps like that. “
Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto reveals, asked about the “porpoising” problem: “It’s something we are working on. We know it’s not completely solved yet.”
“Maybe already in Imola we will try to mitigate it further if we can. But it is something that we know is not fully solved yet. It’s not a surprise, it’s something that’s difficult to keep under control.”
In that context, the Ferrari team boss admits, “There are races or track layouts where we suffer from it more than others – whatever the reasons. So when we came here, we knew since Friday that it could have been a problem for this weekend as well. “
