How a 30cm metal wire triggered open warfare in the F1 paddock

Porpoising has become the key talking point during the 2022 Formula 1 season, as teams battle to come to terms with it. An FIA technical directive ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix and a second stay appearing on the Mercedes cars only served to create a bigger debate and raise tensions further

Jonathan Noble Jun 23, 2022, 8:35 AM

Upd: Jun 23, 2022, 7:36 PM

When the Mercedes W13 rolled out in to the pitlane for Friday morning’s tech show-and-tell session ahead of the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix, it didn’t even feature the tiniest of components that would end up kicking off one of the biggest political spats we’ve had in a while.

Instead, the team still needed a bit more time to get an extra metal supporting wire in place on George Russell’s car prior to the start of first practice. So, the only evidence of it coming were the slots that would hold it in place.

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Author Jonathan Noble

Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.