FIA Outlines F1 Porpoising Changes, Stronger Roll Hoops

• A porpoising monitoring system will come into effect from next weekend’s Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix.

• The phenomenon, whereby a car violently bounces up and down, returned to F1 this year amid the overhaul of technical regulations.

• Porpoising will be monitored and teams must operate below a certain threshold in order for a car to be considered safe.

The FIA’s porpoising monitoring system will come into effect from next weekend’s Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix while changes have also been made to the 2023 Formula 1 regulations.

The phenomenon, whereby a car violently bounces up and down, returned to F1 this year amid the overhaul of technical regulations. Some teams and drivers have been affected worse than others, with Mercedes in particular afflicted, meaning the issue of tackling the problem has been at times controversial.

The FIA effectively took the matter out of the hands of teams by declaring it a safety issue, following June’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with the bumpy and high-speed nature of the circuit leading to widespread porpoising. That means it did not require a majority of teams to approve in-season changes.

An attempt at introducing a measurable metric was planned for the French Grand Prix in July but was pushed back until next weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix in order for further discussions.

At Tuesday’s meeting of the World Motor Sport Council, it was outlined that porpoising will be monitored and teams must operate below a certain threshold in order for a car to be considered safe for the remainder of the season. There will also be changes to the stiffness of the underfloor planks and skids.