George Russell has revealed how Mercedes once vetoed a Formula 1 testing request that he and Lewis Hamilton had devised to showcase the effects of porpoising.
The 2025 season will be the last year the sport runs the incumbent ground effects cars.
Initially banned from F1 in the early 1980s amid safety concerns, the concept found itself back in the paddock from 2022 onwards.
Pre-season testing, however, threw a spanner in the works for teams up and down the grid as they were faced with a phenomenon called porpoising.
As the car achieved high aerodynamic loads, they seemingly bottomed out, getting sucked towards the tarmac, in turn pushing the floor back up – leading to a sustained bouncing effect.
This quickly became a safety concern for all the drivers who suffered immense pressure on their lower backs.
While porpoising has since been minimised, Russell revealed how an earlier simulator session prompted him and then team-mate Hamilton to make a request which was firmly shut down by a health and safety officer.
“To be honest, they are brutal cars,” he told media including Motorsport Week prior to the Qatar Grand Prix.
“We’ve got a rig that does simulated replays of a lap, replaying the suspension movements from the chassis side, and Lewis and I wanted to put one of our chief designers in this car to do a replay of Baku.
“[It was] to show how aggressive the porpoising was, and the health and safety officer said it was too dangerous, so that gives a bit of perspective.”
Russell is ‘glad’ ground effects F1 era coming to an end
With only two rounds remaining this season, F1 will embrace the all-new 2026 regulations for the first time in February next year.
This also signals the end of the current concept, and it is strongly suggested that porpoising will not carry forward onto the next generation of cars.
The Briton, reflecting on his experience with porpoising at Las Vegas for the first time in 2023, said he was “glad” that the current generation of cars was finally getting phased out.
“You’re driving around for an hour-and-a-half, you’re shaking all over the place and your back, your body, your eyes,” explained the Mercedes driver.
“I remember the first year of Las Vegas, I couldn’t see the brake marker boards because the car was hitting the ground so aggressively, I was doing 240mph, and I just couldn’t see it.
“I spoke with a few drivers and half the grid was the same, so yeah, I am glad we’re moving away from this.”
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