Christian Horner dismisses Toto Wolff’s porpoising claims as ‘part of the game’

Toto Wolff has urged the FIA to change the rules after Lewis Hamilton’s pain throughout the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Jack Rathborn
Tuesday 14 June 2022 06:27 EDT
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Christian Horner has dismissed Red Bull’s rivals’ complaints over porpoising
Christian Horner has dismissed Red Bull’s rivals’ complaints over porpoising (Getty Images)

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Christian Horner has dismissed Toto Wolff’s claims for the FIA to adjust Formula 1 rules over porpoising following Lewis Hamilton’s struggles.

The Mercedes superstar revealed his back was “killing” him during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix due to repeated bouncing from the porpoising effect.

And Wolff immediately made a plea to the governing body, insisting: “We need to do something on the regulations because he [Hamilton] can't move.”

But Horner has labelled the complaints as “part of the game,” while admitting he would instruct his Red Bull drivers to “bitch as much as they could” if the RB18 experienced similar issues.

“Look, it is uncomfortable but there are remedies to that but it’s detrimental to car performance,” Horner said.

“What’s the easiest thing to do? Complain from a safety point of view, but each team has a choice.

“If it was a genuine safety concern across the whole grid then it’s something that should be looked at. But if it’s only affecting isolated people or teams, that’s something the team should potentially deal with.

“You have a choice where you run your car, don’t you? And you should never run a car that’s unsafe. But… I think that’s more for the technical guys because there’s certain cars that have issues and some cars that have few issues.

“It would seem unfair to penalise the ones that have done a decent job versus the ones that have perhaps missed the target slightly.”

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