Latest upgrade ’hammering’ Ferrari with porpoising

Mid-season in 2024, Ferrari is being ’hammered’ by the recurrence of a nasty aerodynamic phenomenon - porpoising.

Most teams, including the Maranello-based outfit, had largely solved the issue that suddenly emerged with the debut of new ground effect rules in 2022.

But Ferrari’s latest major upgrade means the issue is back again.

"The car bouncing was the most annoying surprise of the weekend which also really bothers the drivers in the high-speed corners," admitted team boss Frederic Vasseur in Austria.

"We’ve fixed it a bit even if it is not fixed enough," the Frenchman added.

Carlos Sainz, who has been behind Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, the McLarens and even the Mercedes for the majority of the weekend, said Ferrari has attempted to minimise the bouncing via car setup.

"We are trying to change the car a little to see if we can get rid of this phenomenon that has hammered us a little here, but also in Barcelona. We are suffering a lot with it," the Spaniard told DAZN.

"Maybe I have managed to make the car faster, but I have suffered quite a bit with the bouncing and have had a couple of big scares."

Sainz admits the issue has cost Ferrari quite a bit in terms of performance.

"We cannot lower the car as much as we would like to because otherwise we have the bouncing again," he said. "This in turn affects the top speed.

"All of this is related to the new parts that we have had on the car since Spain," Sainz admitted. "But in turns 7 and 9 here, we lose a tenth of a second per corner to Max.

"We are already working flat out on a solution, as we can see that the upgrades work everywhere where we don’t get the bouncing. But if you are so busy keeping the bouncing under control, you lose in certain sections what you have gained in others with the new parts.

"None of this is ideal," he said, "but I am confident that we will have it under control by Silverstone at the latest."