Toto Wolff Aims to Restore Mercedes F1 Dominance Amid Major Mid-Season Twist

Porpoising is a term that came back to F1 after the return of the ground effect cars. While some teams have not experienced porpoising as much, Mercedes has been extremely affected by this phenomenon. But looking at their recent performances, it seems they might have gotten over the bouncing issues with their car.

But Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff mentioned that there is a reason other teams have suffered less with this phenomenon compared to them. In a recent interview, Wolff reveals other teams are doing something strange to their planks underneath the car that is against the rules.

“Some teams have boards that disappear when the car hits the floor. The reason for having the planks is to reduce the wear and tear on the floor you can get. And if a plank can miraculously disappear into the floor, that’s clearly against the rules. (translated using Google)

“The second thing is a board that can wobble or moves more than the tolerance allows. The tolerance is one millimeter (2mm, editor’s note) and even if a board moves several millimeters in the car, it’s obvious that you gain in performance there too,” said Wolff.

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With this, the Mercedes team boss believes that the new technical directive, which will come into effect at the Belgian Grand Prix, will take away the advantage of the other teams, reducing the gap between his team and the front runners.

It would be interesting to see if the reason Wolff gave is correct or not. But Mercedes, too, have looked do you have overcome their porpoising woes after the Austrian GP.

Mercedes team boss provides an update on their porpoising issues

The German team has scored podiums in the past 4 races courtesy of both their drivers. They also look a bit more competitive on Sundays. Moreover, we now no longer hear their drivers complain about bouncing that much.

“The porpoising, I think we got on top of. But we’re still lacking these two- or three-tenths in performance. Overall, the car was much quicker today. But [the team is] not quick enough to really challenge for the front yet,” said the Mercedes team boss.

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It is nice to see the reigning world champions are back at it, challenging Red Bull and Ferrari on the race weekends. Hopefully, we’ll see them fighting for race wins and pole positions once again once they fix all their issues.