Ferrari and Red Bull are expected to face some performance deficit from Belgium Grand Prix as new central floor tweaks come in.
Ferrari and Red Bull are undoubtedly the fastest cars on the grid. Both the teams were able to tackle the issue of porpoising earlier than many teams while still getting maximum performance.
Now, FIA has confirmed the 2023 regulations change.
Mercedes was one of the teams that, suffered the most due to the bouncing. Porpoising plagued Mercedes’s campaign right from the start. In some cases, it became so extreme that, Lewis Hamilton reported back problems.
Lately, the performance of W13 has increased significantly. We can surely say that it has become a race win challenging car on a good day. Nevertheless, Mercedes is still waiting to bag their first win this season.
The introduction of a technical directive in the Canadian Grand Prix however, changed many things.
FIA started taking measurements on the bouncing. They decided on the limit of oscillations in a car. From the next race after the summer break (Belgium GP). FIA will make the teams raise the height of their cars if they exceed that limit.
Furthermore, they have also banned the moving planks that few teams were using to limit bouncing and gain performance advantages. The skid blocks under the car will not be allowed to flex more than 2mm.
For next season, there were initial proposals to raise the height of the front wing floor edges by 25mm. However, after discussions with teams, it was finalized at 15mm.
Few more tweaks like raising the diffuser throat, and putting sensors to observe porpoising are coming in, all in the name of safety.
Ferrari and Red Bull are blaming Mercedes for lobbying using safety as a feign to bring the regulations changes into effect.
Both the teams are most vocal against the incoming regulations change. Most of the teams have sorted out bouncing by now. Also, it is too late to change the car design for the 2023 season and will cost extra money and investment. It will be interesting to see if some teams protest against it or not.
By the looks of setting the floor edges at 15 mm, it appears that most of the teams have agreed or reluctantly agreed to the regulations change.
Ferrari and Red Bull might be the worst affected since they were running in the front by a huge margin. Will it really help Mercedes is a doubt though? We can only know after the summer break at Spa.
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