Mercedes porpoising labelled "aggressive" as Red Bull understand problems
Mercedes porpoising labelled "aggressive" as Red Bull understand problems
Christian Horner believes Red Bull has started to understand the porpoising issues that have affected teams up and down the F1 grid.
But after two troubled practice sessions for Mercedes ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, the Red Bull team principal has labelled the issues of his rivals with the phenomenon as "aggressive".
F1's new regulations have reintroduced ground-effect aerodynamics into the sport but with that has come the vicious bouncing of the cars in a straight line as airflow stalls underneath the car.
Mercedes, in particular, struggled, with Lewis Hamilton undergoing extensive set-up changes on his W13 ahead of the second session to try and eradicate the problems.
Asked if Red Bull was experiencing porpoising as along the lines of Mercedes, Horner told Sky Sports F1: "I think to a lesser degree. Theirs looks particularly aggressive.
"But the guys have done a good job. We had a fair amount of it in Barcelona but we have started to understand it and get on top of it."
Assessing his own team's day, Horner said: "It has been a positive day for us really, both in the warmer conditions earlier and in the last session, the short-runs, the long-runs, both looked pretty decent.
"But, of course, fuel loads and engine modes, there are so many caveats but we are pretty satisfied with today's running."
Verstappen expecting Mercedes comeback
Max Verstappen set his sights on the perfect start to the season with the fastest time of the day in second practice.
The Dutchman was followed by the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, with the former just 0.087secs adrift, while George Russell was sixth-tenths-of-a-second adrift and Hamilton 1.2s down.
Asked if he was surprised by Mercedes apparent lack of pace, he insisted: "No, not yet.
"We will have to wait and see tomorrow when everyone is turning their engines up really how much is in there."
On his own fortunes in practice, Verstappen added: "It felt really good. We've been testing here so overall you are in a better window to start with.
"We tried a few things on the car and they all seemed to be working well. Straightforward and smooth day so I'm really happy with that.
"It felt really good on both short and long runs, basically whatever happens in the short run you try to then correct in the long run but the car was doing all of it. Very pleased.
"But you can see Ferrari is pushing hard, they're very close so that's very exciting as well.
"We will have to wait and see with engine modes tomorrow as well from all the teams to really see where we're at."
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Sky Sports F1 pundit dumbfounded by key Ferrari decision
- 12 minutes ago
Newey set to announce STUNNING Red Bull departure
- 1 hour ago
Talented young F1 prodigy set to make series DEBUT
- 2 hours ago
F1 champion reveals 'painful' contract clause that cost him HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS
- 3 hours ago
F1 legend's ICONIC car put up for sale in UK
- Today 14:57
Incredible statistic puts Verstappen AHEAD of Hamilton record
- Today 13:57
Related news
F1 pundit details GLARING Mercedes issue
Wolff admits Mercedes made 'weird' mistakes in Bahrain disasterclass
F1 pundit sends 'boring' warning to top teams
Bahrain F1 Grand Prix 2024 results: Final classification with penalties applied
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860