Mercedes director Andrew Shovlin believes other teams 'better' at dealing with porpoising problem

Mercedes’ trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin believes other teams have better dealt with the problem of ‘porpoising’ so far this season. New vehicle regulations and the ‘venturi tunnel’ mean that cars are prone to bouncing off the track. Ad/> AlphaTauri are the fastest team after FP1 on Friday but Ferrari and Red Bull have also put down stronger times.

Formula 1Verstappen claims 'I don't think we need a full report' over 2021 season controversy2 HOURS AGO Speaking to Sky Sports, Shovlin described how Mercedes are dealing with the phenomenon so far. “It’s a continuation of that experimentation we were doing at the end of that test,” he began. “We did make some progress, and we have been playing around with ride heights in this session.

“That’s been pushing and pulling the problem a bit. We need to find some proper car performance and that’s what we’re doing now.” Gasly tops charts at opening practice of 2022 season Verstappen claims 'I don't think we need a full report' over 2021 season controversy 'I can't change the past' — Hamilton carrying no 'baggage' after dramatic title loss Asked to describe the problem the team were facing, he explained: “Because the ground effect is such a powerful thing and the car is wanting to suck itself to the road a bit like a magnet, and then it bounces up. That's why when you lift the ride height or chop away at the ceiling, you improve it, but at the expense of performance.