Max Verstappen and George Russell want F1 cars raised

[CouncilorIrissa]

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/68491352

World champion Verstappen raised the topic with governing body the FIA at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

"End of the straight with full load, the impact is too high with the low ride-heights," Verstappen said.

The Red Bull driver said that his intervention with the FIA, in the drivers' briefing in Bahrain last weekend, was "just some advice to look ahead".

The problem was "our comfort, our spine, compression over the bumps," Verstappen told BBC Sport.

He added that F1 "had to revise that" for the new regulations that are being introduced in 2026.

But he said he was concerned that the FIA was not addressing the matter sufficiently in the new rules, which are due to be finalised in June.

"We still run very low but I don't think the 2026 car is going to be any different," Verstappen said.

"All the drivers have been speaking with F1 because it is a little bit unsustainable to keep running the cars like this," the Mercedes driver said.

"You get the most amount of performance running the car as close to the ground as possible and as stiff as possible, so you feel like your teeth are rattling out down the straight.

"The length of an AA battery is the distance we are from the ground at the beginning (of the straight) and at the end it is the size of a chickpea.

"So every single tiny bump, it goes all through your body, and we hope for the next generation of cars they find a better solution."

[bluechris]

Nice, let's see if Ferrari will step in that banana second time.

[Farnborough]

They are also pointing these comment at the 2026 rules set I believe.

That gives it a different slant, that's missed here

[CouncilorIrissa]

They are also pointing these comment at the 2026 rules set I believe.

That gives it a different slant, that's missed here

Edited the OP.

[Vanja #66]

Are those two team mates already? Max blowing the Mercedes windmill while still in RB, that's something you don't see every day

[morefirejules08]

Are those two team mates already? Max blowing the Mercedes windmill while still in RB, that's something you don't see every day

Or perhaps F1 has a genuine problem at the moment

[vorticism]

It's interesting how the last formula forced high ground clearance accidentally (and accidentally better ride quality/safety) and the current formula doesn't. An oversight by the rulemakers perhaps. When the rules provide an accidental benefit it might be considered to keep it somehow. It's like the NA era, we accidentally learned how good the V10/12s sounded and then it was just abandoned due to rulemakers lacking vision and then ending up with their long standing "durrr where'd da spectacle go" problem.

[chrisc90]

We all know what happened when they raised the floor height last time...

[PapayaFan481]

It's interesting how the last formula forced high ground clearance accidentally (and accidentally better ride quality/safety) and the current formula doesn't. An oversight by the rulemakers perhaps. When the rules provide an accidental benefit it might be considered to keep it somehow. It's like the NA era, we accidentally learned how good the V10/12s sounded and then it was just abandoned due to rulemakers lacking vision and then ending up with their long standing "durrr where'd da spectacle go" problem.

https://amaxofilia.com/wp-content/uploa ... apuros.jpg

In your opinion they sounded better. In others opinion the V6 Turbo Hybrids sound better or the sound doesn't matter so much as the technological interest.

[cplchanb]

Hopefully this would mean active suspension for 2026. F1 is about pinnacle of automotive racing tech not nerf wars

[PlatinumZealot]

It's interesting how the last formula forced high ground clearance accidentally (and accidentally better ride quality/safety) and the current formula doesn't. An oversight by the rulemakers perhaps. When the rules provide an accidental benefit it might be considered to keep it somehow. It's like the NA era, we accidentally learned how good the V10/12s sounded and then it was just abandoned due to rulemakers lacking vision and then ending up with their long standing "durrr where'd da spectacle go" problem.

https://amaxofilia.com/wp-content/uploa ... apuros.jpg

It wasn't forced in the last formula really.

The plank is one way of checking that it's not on average too low over the race...

The previous cars did not rely on extremely low ride heights and stiff suspensions like these ground wffect cars do.

[TeamKoolGreen]

We all know what happened when they raised the floor height last time...

It basically ruined the new regulation era. Red Bull and Ferrari were equal on pace in the first 1/2 of 2022. And after the new TA's, the Ferrari was toast. But everyone else agreed to it because they thought it would slow Red Bull down. All it did was speed Red Bull up. And the field is yet to recover from it.

Ferrari should have fought against those ride height TA's. That was another one of Bonitto's mistakes.

[gshevlin]

It's deja vu all over again...in 1981, when the FIA banned sliding skirts, which allowed significant suspension movement, the teams responded by running their cars incredibly stiff and low to the ground in order to retain downforce. Alan Jones described his 1981 Williams as "like driving a 500bhp go-kart".
The FIA also imposed a right height minimum of 6cm. Measured in the pitlane. The teams responded by adding gizmos to their cars to lower the chassis once the car was out on the track.
The net result was 2 seasons of running cars with almost no ground clearance, and almost no suspension movement. Nobody liked those cars. Keke Rosberg, asked how the 1982 Williams felt to drive, said "it's horrible, quite frankly, but then I am on the front row so I guess it is good". Didier Pironi said, when comparing a 1950s Ferrari road car to his Ferrari, "nobody can pretend that he enjoys driving the F1 car of today".
The current FIA plank does prevent teams from running cars too low so that the chassis bottoms out, but complying with the plank wear requirements increases suspension stiffness.
Finding a solution that does not result in teams using trick suspensions to reduce ride height could be challenging.

[Vanja #66]

Or perhaps F1 has a genuine problem at the moment

Or perhaps current and future Mercedes drivers can stop whining and raise their cars if they hate it so much

[Andres125sx]

It's deja vu all over again...in 1981, when the FIA banned sliding skirts, which allowed significant suspension movement, the teams responded by running their cars incredibly stiff and low to the ground in order to retain downforce. Alan Jones described his 1981 Williams as "like driving a 500bhp go-kart".
The FIA also imposed a right height minimum of 6cm. Measured in the pitlane. The teams responded by adding gizmos to their cars to lower the chassis once the car was out on the track.
The net result was 2 seasons of running cars with almost no ground clearance, and almost no suspension movement. Nobody liked those cars. Keke Rosberg, asked how the 1982 Williams felt to drive, said "it's horrible, quite frankly, but then I am on the front row so I guess it is good". Didier Pironi said, when comparing a 1950s Ferrari road car to his Ferrari, "nobody can pretend that he enjoys driving the F1 car of today".
The current FIA plank does prevent teams from running cars too low so that the chassis bottoms out, but complying with the plank wear requirements increases suspension stiffness.
Finding a solution that does not result in teams using trick suspensions to reduce ride height could be challenging.

Interesting quotes!

Only way to solve this is...

Hopefully this would mean active suspension for 2026. F1 is about pinnacle of automotive racing tech not nerf wars

It´s nosense that we can have active suspension even on a Toyota Corolla, but F1 can´t use it

Or perhaps F1 has a genuine problem at the moment

Or perhaps current and future Mercedes drivers can stop whining and raise their cars if they hate it so much

That´s what F1 teams do, slowing their cars down on purpose for driver comfort

When DF was limited because some drivers started to feel dizy due to high lateral G forces... do you think rulemakers should have kept those rules, and it was F1 teams who should limit DF theirselves to keep drivers safe? That is utter nosense. F1 teams job is building fastest possible cars within current ruleset. If safety is at risk, it´s FIA job to modify rules to ensure drivers safety