Charles Leclerc has sided with title rival Max Verstappen in the continued debate over porpoising. The FIA opted to intervene ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, having announced the introduction of a technical directive with the aim of reducing or eliminating the issue. However, if it were up to Charles Leclerc, the FIA would not be introducing any new rules regarding this unique phenomenon to help stop the bouncing. The Monegasque driver, like Verstappen, thinks that it is not right to introduce new regulations in the middle of a season, just because certain teams are being hit harder by the problem than others.
Drivers air different views on porpoising
There have been many different opinions in the porpoising debate. Many drivers say they are suffering to some degree, but not everyone seems to agree with each other in front of the cameras. Carlos Sainz and George Russell are two of the most vocal in the argument for change. Sainz, like many drivers, has asked the FIA to take action, with the Spaniard calling for the FIA to listen to the drivers and not so much to the teams. "That's why we asked the FIA to look at it and not listen too much to the teams, but to the drivers. It has now come to a point where we are all having a hard time with it," he told media, including RacingNews365.com . Verstappen is one of those who is categorically against any possible changes. "It's disappointing that the rules are being changed, again, in the middle of the season," the Dutchman stated. "It's not even about hitting us harder or less hard than other teams, but it shouldn't be a team complains about it and then suddenly they change the rules around it.” "If you can't develop the car properly, that's your fault, not the regulations' fault. This is just not correct."
Leclerc: "It's a shame to see all our work go in the bin"
Sainz's Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, whose performance is not hindered by the porpoising, does not want to see any changes being made and has sided with Verstappen, even though he understands that the bouncing isn't very nice. "I understand Russell's point because if you saw Lewis climbing out of the car in Baku, for example, it looks very bad," Leclerc said. "You can feel Hamilton's pain and that is unacceptable." On the other hand, the Ferrari driver finds it odd that all of his team's hard work could be wiped out by a set of new rules mid-year. "On the other hand, you should not underestimate how much work has been done by the team in recent months to overcome the problem. Since the first time we tested these cars, that has been our main priority," emphasised Leclerc. "As a team we have worked very hard to solve these problems and we have already improved a lot. Now all that hard work would go in the bin, all because one team struggles more with their car than the rest? "That's how I look at it. I understand that it is bad at Mercedes, I just also think that there may be other solutions."
Most read
