Mid-season in 2024, Ferrari is dealing with the unwelcome return of a troubling aerodynamic issue - porpoising.
Most teams, including Ferrari, had mostly resolved this problem that first appeared with the introduction of new ground effect rules in 2022.
However, Ferrari's recent car upgrade, introduced in Barcelona, has brought the issue back.
"The car bouncing was the most annoying surprise of the weekend which also really bothers the drivers in the high-speed corners," admitted team boss Frederic Vasseur in Austria.
"We've fixed it a bit even if it is not fixed enough," the Frenchman added.
Carlos Sainz, who has been trailing Max Verstappen's Red Bull, the McLarens, and even the Mercedes for most of the weekend, mentioned that Ferrari has been trying to mitigate the bouncing through car setup adjustments.
"We are trying to change the car a little to see if we can get rid of this phenomenon that has hammered us a little here, but also in Barcelona. We are suffering a lot with it," the Spaniard told DAZN.
"Maybe I have managed to make the car faster, but I have suffered quite a bit with the bouncing and have had a couple of big scares."
Sainz acknowledges that the problem has significantly impacted Ferrari's performance.
"We cannot lower the car as much as we would like to because otherwise we have the bouncing again," he said. "This in turn affects the top speed. All of this is related to the new parts that we have had on the car since Spain," Sainz admitted.
"But in turns 7 and 9 here, we lose a tenth of a second per corner to Max. We are already working flat out on a solution, as we can see that the upgrades work everywhere where we don't get the bouncing. But if you are so busy keeping the bouncing under control, you lose in certain sections what you have gained in others with the new parts. None of this is ideal," he said, "but I am confident that we will have it under control by Silverstone at the latest."
