Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso believes that the complex nature of contemporary ground effect Formula 1 machinery can lead to confusion when setting up a car for a race weekend.
The 2022 overhaul of F1’s technical regulations heralded the return of ground effect whereby the shaped underside of the car is used to generate as much as 60% of total downforce.
When the new generation of cars hit the track for the first time in Barcelona testing two years ago, competitors were confronted with the issue of ‘porpoising’.
The phenomenon came as a direct result of the shift to ground effect aero. Underfloor downforce generation sucks cars to the ground, accelerating airflow greater to create yet more downforce before stalling and suddenly releasing pressure causing the car to rise once more.
While changes were made to the 2023 technical regulations to mitigate the issue amid concerns of driver safety, teams struggled for consistency last season as Aston Martin, Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren all featured as the second-fastest team to Red Bull at differing circuit types.
Two-time champion Fernando Alonso believes that this inconsistency is somewhat of a hallmark of the current crop of cars as it has become far more challenging to find the right operating window in terms of car set-up.
“[The cars are] definitely more difficult to set up, more difficult to understand. Even more difficult to give the feedback to the team,” the Spaniard explained.
“Sometimes we drive these cars and we feel everything is going OK. You stop and you see the standings and maybe you are P14. And sometimes the opposite.
“You drive a very difficult car: the balance is completely out of the way and then you stop and you are top three. There is a very sensitive way of setting up the cars.”
Alonso suggested that unpredictability likely stemmed from the shift to an underflow aerodynamic focus combined with the need to run lower, stiffer suspension to maximise ground effect.
“I don’t think that is only the aerodynamics,” he continued. “I think that is also the suspension being so stiff and so low.
“You miss a little bit what the car is giving you in terms of feedback – what is the real balance of the car, what is the tyre interaction against the aerodynamic interaction, against the suspension and the mechanical grip?
“All these three parameters are a little bit confused sometimes in your hands and in your body. I think it’s a very complex generation of cars.”
