Alfa Romeo technical director: 'You'll never get rid of bouncing'

Alfa Romeo technical director Jan Monchaux has told Auto Motor und Sport about the new regulations. The Italian racetrack made a weaker start to the season than last year. Only in Bahrain were points scored, by Valtteri Bottas. Guanyu Zhou has not yet managed to pick up any points.

Since the introduction of the new regulations in 2022, there floor of all cars were greatly reduced, which created bouncing on the straights known as porpoising. As a result, regulations were introduced in 2023 to raise the floor again to reduce porpoising. Alfa Romeo's top executive argued that the changes brought new problems, but that they have since solved them at Alfa Romeo.

"Some of the last cars were 50 to 60 millimetres higher, which is a world of difference in Formula 1. Now everyone drives relatively low. In this respect, one has to deal with other problems. A stiff and low car brings other challenges. But now we have everything under control," Monchaux said.

Difference with previous generation cars

The bouncing of the cars has decreased in 2023, but not completely disappeared. For example, Carlos Sainz complained during the Bahrain Grand Prix that his Ferrari was bouncing. The Frenchman argued that teams are never going to get rid of this completely. He also said that the pre-2022 cars also used the ground effect, but to a lesser extent. "The previous cars also had ground effect. The underside was just largely flat. It is a difference though, because with these cars we can exert less downforce with other components."