Porporation was a hot topic with Mercedes drivers, who talked about the jump they endured, but it seemed to be even worse in Baku.
George Russell went so far as to say that it was “only a matter of time before we see a serious incident”.
“Many of us barely manage to keep the car in a straight line over these bumps and we go around the last two turns at 300 km / h [in Baku] and we reach the bottom and you can clearly see on the asphalt how close the cars are to the ground, “said the rising star of Mercedes. “It’s just superfluous with the technology we have in today’s environment, it just seems unnecessary to drive a Formula 1 car over 200 millimeters per hour from the ground, and this is a recipe for disaster.
“I really don’t know what the future holds, but I don’t think we can endure that for three years or how long these provisions are in force.
According to the BBC, Russell raised concerns about the safety of cars that reach the bottom of the FIA during a driver briefing on Friday. F1’s new technology regulations allow cars to be tracked more closely, but in an effort to maximize productivity, cars are moving closer to the ground to help improve floor aerodynamics.
In some cases, this has led to a guinea pig, which is essentially the jumping of cars up and down straight. The aerodynamic phenomenon can be triggered by a car that goes too close to the ground, or by an uneven surface of the track, such as the Grand Prix of Azerbaijan.
Russell has made it clear that he is not raising the issue out of competitive advantage, but rather out of real safety concerns.
“I want to say that no matter how much it costs, we do not support it so much [regulation change] as a team, because with every race we do, we learn more and more about the car and any changes will limit this learning. So we don’t want to change, it’s an obvious safety constraint, “Russell told ESPN. “The three best teams are also in the same position, Ferrari and Red Bull, well Ferrari more than Red Bull, you can clearly see that they are really struggling with that. Nobody does it to improve productivity, it’s for safety reasons.
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“I can barely see the brake area because I jump so much. You go through the last two corners [in Baku]you have walls all around you and you do 200 mph and the car bounces up and down the floor – not a very comfortable position to be. As a group, we need a little rethinking.
“It simply came to our notice then. It just feels unnecessary. You are skating on the track and when you hit the ground, the tires are not so tight to the ground, so it’s only a matter of time before we see something. ”
Russell and teammate Lewis Hamilton are not the only ones to mention concern about the guinea pig. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz raised the issue last month before the Spanish Grand Prix.
He revealed to Autosport that he is already “feeling” the effects of the suspension and the guinea pig.
“I think it will be a big challenge,” Sainz said. “I think the curbs in Miami already felt quite aggressive in these cars. There were several blows to Imola that were quite hard on the body. More than Monaco, we have to think [about] as drivers and F1 what fee should a driver pay for his back and health in a Formula 1 career with this kind of car philosophy? I think we need to open the debate more than anything.
“I think the rules are great. They do exactly what we need for competitions. But do we have to run as stiffly around our necks and backs as we have to run lately with this car table? For me, this is more of a philosophical question that I ask there, maybe for Formula 1 and for everyone to rethink how much a driver really has to pay in his career with his health to fight it. ”
Science added that he had done my usual back checks, neck tightening, and I could see that I was tighter everywhere this year. I don’t need expert advice to know that 10 years like this will be difficult and you will have to work hard in the field of mobility, flexibility. “
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