Daniel Ricciardo has insisted that Formula One must tackle the porpoising issue that left several drivers in pain after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The bumpy streets of Baku, in comparison to the smoothly-tarmaced bespoke racing circuits F1 typically races on, left Lewis Hamilton limping after last weekend’s grand prix while Pierre Gasly remarked that he will be needing a cane to walk by the age of 30 if the issues continue.
For Ricciardo’s McLaren team, the issue is noticeable although not to the extent of the Mercedes - still leaving the Aussie describing the sensation as like being “squeezed” while driving at top speed and leaving him feeling “rattled”.
This weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix promises to be somewhat better than Azerbaijan and Ricciardo believes drivers “can macho it” for one race but persistent issues will have to be looked at more seriously.
He said: “I dread to feel what the others felt because honestly [Sunday’s race] was bad. I really struggled.
“It was, simply putting it, painful. It’s painful – but I guess like, unnatural. It’s literally like someone’s bouncing you like that, like a pro basketball player when they get the ball really low.
“[It was like] being dribbled, being professionally dribbled by [NBA star] Steph Curry or something.
“It’s definitely not good, and it’s not normal, and I think we do need to do something.”
As F1 heads to the second part of its double-header, some have questioned whether certain teams’ setups are more to blame with the porpoising not universally felt across the grid. Sky Sports pundit Martin Brundle described the idea of F1 universally agreeing on a rule change to help the likes of Mercedes as like “turkeys voting for Christmas”.
