Charles Leclerc felt a little bit ill after going through the porpoising problem in the 2022 F1 car during the Barcelona testing.
More or less almost all the teams in the paddock are scratching their heads to solve the porpoising problem in the new cars. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc even described the problem as the turbulence on a flight that makes you feel sick.
The new technical regulations have brought many changes to the aerodynamics of the car. In Barcelona, engineers were somehow able to find a temporary solution to the porpoising problem. However, it seems like the issue will be a regular feature this year, at least in the starting races.
F1 released a video of the cars running through the Barcelona testing. In those videos, the porpoising effect could be seen clearly on the main straights of the Spanish track. However, most of the focus fell on Leclerc’s car after he was seen suffering extremely.
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Charles Leclerc is cautious about the car’s true form
Many in the paddock have appreciated the work that the Italian team has done on their new car. From design to performance, Ferrari brought the most competitive package on the track during the testing.
Though the porpoising problem has engineers scratching their heads to find a solution. Leclerc said, “It feels like turbulence on an aeroplane, going up and down the whole straight.”
“I think one of the videos that F1 posted shows this phenomenon quite well, and I can’t say it feels nice. It makes you a little bit ill, but it’s okay.”
“It’s still very early days for this project. So it feels like it’s an issue that everyone has in the paddock more or less. But yeah, in this paddock all the best engineers of the world are here so I’m pretty sure that we’ll find a solution.”
Furthermore, the Ferrari driver is cautious about the performance of the new car. He said that the Ferrari had a good testing session with no major issues coming up. However, in terms of performance, he feels that it is impossible to judge so early.
Everybody is hiding a bit about their car
Leclerc said, “Then in terms of performance it’s impossible to know where we are compared to the others. It’s still very early days, everyone is hiding a little bit their performance. We’ll only know I think at the first qualifying of the year where’s the potential of everyone.”
“But for now it’s been a smooth three days for us, which is always positive to start like this. And the pre-season preparation has gone great, I feel fitter than ever. Every year I try to push the bar a bit higher, and I feel good and I felt good during this testing in the car.”
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