Amid Glorious F1 Start, Frontrunners Red Bull & Ferrari Fall Under FIA Radar Over Questionable Advantage

Red Bull and Ferrari have been the 2 fastest cars in the 2022 season. While the other cars on the grid have complained about losing performance because of porpoising, the two teams have just carried on without a hitch.

Ferrari has experienced porpoising this season but has lost no performance. But the new technical directive introduced by the FIA will monitor the ride heights of the car as well as the intensity of the porpoising. FIA decided to intervene after teams complained of experiencing severe porpoising in the car. But ahead of the British Grand Prix, both Red Bull and Ferrari has come under the suspicion of using flexible floor.

According to auto motor und sport, “The competition suspects that the floor of both cars is deformed in certain places, thereby increasing the tunnel effect under the car.” (translated using Google)

“That could generate significantly more downforce and would explain why the two cars, which are so different on the outside, are so much better than the rest”

And according to the new technical directive, “the central part of the floor should be uniformly stiff”.

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has been vocal in the criticism of the new technical directive introduced by the FIA.

Red Bull team boss speaks against the new technical directive

Many teams, including Red Bull, are against the idea of running a stiffer floor because cars are already too heavy and stiff. A stiffer floor would increase the load on the car and which might mean a loss in lap time.

Giving his thoughts on the matter, Christian said, “But do they also have to tell us what the vehicle set-up should look like? At some point, they will oblige us which rear wing to use and how much ground clearance we should drive.”

“Leave the rules as they are. The problem will solve itself. In a year, nobody will be talking about bouncing anymore. The TD (Technical Directive) only creates confusion. In Montreal, all the cars would have stayed below the limit that the FIA ​​​​imagines. In Baku, one would have been over it. We don’t need this TD for that,” said Horner.

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If the FIA makes it mandatory for the teams to run a stiffer floor, then Red Bull might be at a disadvantage. They might lose lap time and their advantage over their rivals.