Lewis Hamilton does not expect the FIA’s bid to address porpoising will shake up grid positions but reiterated that driver safety had to be the sport’s No1 priority.
Hamilton has perhaps been the most hampered by the problem, leaving him with a back injury and calling on Formula 1’s authorities to act in the wake of last weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
On medical advice, the FIA has intervened to give technical guidelines for teams to ensure the porpoising is not at the unsafe levels it was in Baku at this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.
“Safety is the most important thing,” he said. “It’s positive the FIA is working on it as we have this car for the next few years and it’s about getting ride of it and fixing it so all of us don’t have back problems going forward.
“I don’t think it’s really going to change much in performance. I might be wrong. We’ll see.
“We definitely cannot stress how important health is for us. We want to do our job…but race the safest. There is no need for us to have long-term injuries. We need to work closely with the FIA and not take it lightly, which I don’t think it are.”
The FIA has focused on the planks and skids on the underside of the cars while curtailing the bouncing of the cars and the impact on drivers. It will hold a technical meeting with the teams to work out how to address driver concerns, which reached a peak in Baku.
The race winner in Azerbaijan and championship leader Max Verstappen said the issue needed to be resolved but called against rule changes during the course of the season.
“Regardless of if it’s going to help us, always these rule changes in the year, I don’t think it’s correct,” he said. “I understand the safety part of it.
“But talk to every engineer in the paddock, if you raise your car, you’ll have less issues anyway. I don’t think it’s correct now they have to intervene and start applying rules if you can’t cope with porpoising. I think it will be hard to police. We’ll see.”
