The return of ground effect aerodynamics this year as part ofꦯ a major overhaul to F1’s technical regulations has led to several teams experiencing high-frequency bouncing with their cars at high speeds during the opening pre-season test at Barcelona. 

This phenomenon occurs when the airflow under the car is disrupted or stalls, resulting in loss o🐽f downforce and causing the cars to dramatically bounce up and down when reaching a certain spไeed on the straights. 

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto warned that many teams had “underestim🌠ated” the porpoising issue, which he suggested won’t be an ღeasy fix. 

And new Mercedes driver Russell is also concerned about potential safety hazards po🌱sed by the phenomenon that has returned to F1 for the first time since the early 1980s. 

“💦I think it has the p🍌otential to be a real safety concern if it gets out of control,” said Russell. 

“Obviously if y𒐪ou’re flat-out down the straight and it starts to happen, you don’t back off in a race scenario. We 🎉saw with Charles’s video just how bad it was for them, so I think we all need to find a solution.”

Bumpy road to the top for Charles Leclerc!

— Formula 1 (@F1)

But Russe🌞ll is confident that teams will come up with the necessary solutions to combat the problem. 

“🎉I guess if active suspension was there that could be solved with a click of your fingers,” he added. “And the cars would naturally be a hell of a lot faster if we had that and I’m sure all the teams are capable of that. 

“So that could be one for the fu🌠ture. But let’s see in Bah♔rain. I’m sure all the teams will come up with some smart ideas around this issue.”

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz de🎀scribed it as “annoying”, while AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly admitted it was “not pleasant”. 

However, new Alfa Romeo sig♊ning Valtteri Bottas does ꦛnot share the same concerns as Russell. 

“For now I don’t♈ think it’s a safety issue,” the Finn said during Alfa Romeo’s tea🥂m launch on Sunday. “I think it’s just the way that the aero of the car works.

“Obviously it’s a fact that the lower you go with ๊the car, the more you have downforce. And if you find a way to have a good ride in the car, being able to run it low, you might gain some performance. But obviously in some places [that comes] with a cost of the ride itself, especially in high speeds and over the bumps.

“So it’s quite an interesting new philosophy on the aero side of the car. I don’t think it’s going to be a big concern. As a team we need to work around it and we need to make sure that the car is reliable enough for these regulations and it’s the same case for every t🎃eam.

“I think now it’s a big talking point but I would imagine as long as the season starts going, teams are understanding more and more, it’s going to꧟⭕ be less of an issue and less of a talking point.”