Hopping cars: That's what the racing drivers say

It remains an emotional contentious issue with long-term consequences. There is no unity. Red Bull and Max Verstappen in particular are complaining. The team leading in the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships and its star driver do not hide their displeasure with the instructions from the International Automobile Federation FIA to ensure the safety of drivers against the hobbling of the new generation Formula 1 cars. “We shouldn’t overdramatize it,” said Verstappen and added: “There are many sports in which you damage your body, that’s how it is.” For footballers, for example, it’s the knee. And rule changes in one season are not okay anyway, he said. The opinion of the 24-year-old champion from the Netherlands does not seem necessarily representative in the paddock before the Canadian Grand Prix. Even if his worst opponent from Ferrari, Charles Leclerc, agreed with him: “I don't completely agree with it. It is the team’s responsibility to give me a car to drive.” Fia statement as a point of contention The point of contention is now the Fia's instructions. “In a sport in which participants routinely drive at speeds in excess of 300 km/h, it is assumed that a rider’s entire concentration must be focused on this task,” it said in a statement. The enormous shocks to which the drivers are exposed due to the extreme hopping of the racing cars can endanger the health and safety of the drivers. “I couldn’t read my pit board in Baku,” said George Russell from Mercedes, the Silver Arrow being the car most severely affected. You as a driver should not be pushed into a corner where you have to choose between health and performance, said Pierre Gasly from Alpha Tauri. This is how hopping cars happen The phenomenon of hopping cars is caused by the new rules. At high speeds, the cars are pressed onto the ground on the straights until they briefly touch the asphalt and are then pushed up again. Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel warned that “it cannot be the case that we drivers suffer short- or long-term damage.” The Aston Martin driver added with a view to the aerodynamic rules that have now been in force for a longer period of time: “We can’t continue driving like this for four or five years. Health comes before performance.”

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Hopping cars: That's what the racing drivers say

It might sound amusing: bouncing cars. But it's anything but funny. However, according to FIA instructions, the teams do not agree. “Health comes before performance,” says Sebastian Vettel clearly. Max Verstappen counters in his own way.

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