MERCEDES TRIES FLOOR CHANGES TO ADDRESS PORPOISING

Despite coming away from the Bahrain Grand Prix with a podium, Mercedes still has considerable issues to fix with its ominously titled W13. In a bid to get on top of the bouncing and porpoising that has plagued the car so far, the team introduced a back-to-back floor test in the opening practice session to see if a slightly revised edge profile would help ease the pain.

Lewis Hamilton trialled a floor featuring a small raised lip to try to redistribute the position of the vortices produced ahead that help to create a seal. With the change in sidepod design, Mercedes moved away from the rippled solution it ran at Barcelona but is still hunting for the best option to iron out the car’s problems.

George Russell, fresh from his first race in the 2022 car, explained that Mercedes’ problems run beyond porpoising but remained hopeful that the team could find a cure: “I think the lap time deficit we have is probably 50% in the straight and 50% in the corners. [Bouncing] was affecting the tyres a lot because every braking zone, the rears are just skipping under braking because the car is so unsettled. If we unlock this performance, it’s just going to benefit everything. It’s going to help the tyres, it’s going to help us on the brakes.”