‘He can’t move’: Toto Wolff calls for F1 rule change after Lewis Hamilton’s porpoising issue
The seven-time world champion could be seen in significant pain after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
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Your support makes all the difference.Toto Wolff has called on the FIA to change rules in Formula 1 to combat the danger posed by porpoising after Lewis Hamilton’s recent struggles.
The Mercedes driver could be seen in agony getting out of his W13 car in Baku at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Hamilton claimed his back was a “mess” and that it was “killing” him mid-race, eventually finishing fourth.
The issue has led to his team boss Wolff calling on the FIA to make changes to safeguard the drivers, given the physical impact posed by repeated bouncing throughout races.
"We need to do something on the regulations because he can't move,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1.
“The cars are bouncing so much, most of the cars too, that's not good, I haven't spoken to him about it, but it doesn't look nice."
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner does not agree though, labelling the complaints as being “part of the game”.
The Red Bull boss insists he would be instructing his drivers to “bitch as much as they could” if the RB18 experienced similar porpoising issues.
“Look, it is uncomfortable but there are remedies to that but it’s detrimental to car performance,” Horner said.
“What’s the easiest thing to do? Complain from a safety point of view, but each team has a choice.
“If it was a genuine safety concern across the whole grid then it’s something that should be looked at. But if it’s only affecting isolated people or teams, that’s something the team should potentially deal with.
“You have a choice where you run your car, don’t you? And you should never run a car that’s unsafe. But… I think that’s more for the technical guys because there’s certain cars that have issues and some cars that have few issues.
“It would seem unfair to penalise the ones that have done a decent job versus the ones that have perhaps missed the target slightly.”
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