A Formula 1 team chief has told drivers they should "stay at home" if they cannot cope with discomfort from porpoising cars, in a thinly-veiled swipe at Lewis Hamilton.
The Mercedes ace has been one of the racers most affected by the bouncing phenomenon which has been the talk of the paddock this season. It was the seven-time world champion who clambered out of his car in agony after a tough Azerbaijan Grand Prix earlier this month.
It was after those scenes that the FIA decided to step in with a technical directive as the sport's governing body vowed to "reduce or eliminate" porpoising. It plans to create a metric to determine an "acceptable level of vertical oscillations", which will then be enforced so teams have to set up their car with driver comfort in mind.
AlphaTauri chief Franz Tost said he supports the FIA in its mid-season intervention, but also had a scathing message for complaining F1 drivers as he assessed the situation. "This is a Formula 1 car," he said. "I remember back when the wing cars were out there, there was a driver coming to me on Sunday evening and said tomorrow I have to go to the dentist because I lose my feelings because the cars are so hard to drive.
"And it's not nothing new. Now, there are two things. First of all, the drivers must do more training for the neck muscles and for the gluteus maximus, then this helps, for sure. And the FIA is coming now with this new technical directive, which, of course, will help to find out how big are the forces.
"And then when they create these metrics, then maybe we can find a way to reduce the bouncing, and the forces which are coming to the drivers. How much this can be controlled, I don't know yet. We, from Scuderia AlphaTauri will support the FIA. We will give them the data and then we will see what will be the result.
"But this is a Formula 1 car. This is not a Rolls Royce. And drivers should be aware of this. And if the cars are too stiff, or it's too difficult for them, maybe they should stay at home, in the living room, sit in the chair, and then they can do the races on TV or wherever. I don't know."
Meanwhile, Hamilton's future in the sport has been questioned by former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone. He believes the 37-year-old "doesn't seem bothered about losing" and claimed that Mercedes chief Toto Wolff is "getting a bit fed up" with and could replace the seven-time world champion.
