Teams arrived Thursday for the Montreal Grand Prix to discover the FIA had issued a technical directive to reduce bouncing
Most Formula One teams were in the air en route to Montreal when their sport’s governing body announced it was stepping in to counter the troublesome bouncing of cars.to discover the FIA had issued a technical directive to reduce bouncing – also known as “porpoising” – that’s been the bane of numerous drivers this season, most notably seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
“The timing was absolutely not good, because most of the people were travelling and just to send out technical directive few days before the race is for sure not the best,” said Franz Tost, Alpha Tauri’s team principal. “I remember back when … there was a driver coming to me on Sunday evening who said, ‘I have to go to the dentist because I lose my fillings,’ because the cars are so hard to drive,” he said. “It’s nothing new. The drivers must do more training for the neck muscles and for the gluteus maximus. This helps for sure.
But Alpine’s team principal Otmar Szafnauer argued that most teams didn’t bring a second stay because the directive was issued while they were already en route. McLaren’s team principal Zak Brown agreed the directive came “a bit late in the day to be able to respond at the weekend … except teams that have maybe have a crystal ball,” he said.