Porpoising has been a major issue for teams this season. In particular, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have probably suffered the most. The Briton had a torrid time with the bouncing in Baku that left him doubtful for the race in Canada. However, some teams have been rumored to exploit the regulations in order to extract performance and minimize porpoising with the use of flexi floors.
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Although, the FIA has decided to put an end to all these flexi floor tricks. They will introduce new measures to minimize porpoising in this generation of cars. The new directives will debut from the French GP.
Although, Mercedes have welcomed this change from the FIA with open arms. Max Verstappen is still skeptical. The Dutchman said, “Well, what I don’t quite understand, is that they’re complaining about the flexible floors while theirs is the most flexible”.
However, with the technical directive being enforced at Circuit Paul Ricard, it could see both Red Bull and Ferrari potentially lose performance. This has filled Lewis Hamilton with hope as he still chases his first race win of the season.
Lewis Hamilton hopeful of his French GP chances as rule tweak possibly brings Mercedes closer to the front
Mercedes have struggled to nail down their car under the new regulations. However, slowly over time, they have gained some performance race after race. At the last race in Silverstone, the W13 looked very competitive and at one point had Hamilton vying for the win.
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Although, there is still some way to go before Hamilton can end his victory drought this season. In the meantime, the FIA have launched a new technical directive that could possibly benefit Mercedes. This is expected to take away from the performance of Red Bull and Ferrari, the two teams rumored to be benefiting the most from the flexi floors.
Speaking to Channel 4 Hamilton said, “I’m praying every day. I definitely have hope that we can improve and I know everyone is working so hard”. He went on to add, “There are also some things going on in the background with floors, all sorts of things. It will be interesting to see how that affects everybody”.
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Hamilton will be hoping that the French GP will be the race he can end his winless streak. The new directives could possibly aid him in his quest for a victory this season.