Why "unfair" F1 porpoising rule change needs to be looked at

With the considerable levels of bouncing experienced at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, drivers have called for changes to ease the stress on their backs. But equally, the Formula 1 teams with cars less susceptible to it are unlikely to accept any differences in the rules, feeling it punishes those who got the 2022 regs right. Both sides to the argument have merit - and the FIA must find a middle ground

The battle lines over a potential rule change in Formula 1 to help dial out the porpoising nightmare that many are suffering have become clear.

On one side are a section of drivers who are fed up of the battering they are getting from their cars constantly bouncing and bottoming out on tracks. They feel that the way the current rules are framed forces them (for competitive reasons) to go with the low ride-height super stiff setup that means an inevitable bit of pain.

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Author Jonathan Noble

Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.

Jonathan has won multiple awards for journalism - in 1991 he was the winner of the Guild of Motoring Writers’ Sir William Lyons’ Award for young journalists, in 2010 he was awarded the Outstanding Individual accolade for consumer journalism in the Haymarket wards, in 2011 he won Haymarket’s Scoop of the Year, and in 2018 he was awarded a prestigious Medaglia d’Oro at the Lorenzo Bandini Awards for his contribution to F1 journalism.