Safari scroll locks the horizontal / vertical axis

I just got a new IPhone 15 Pro with the latest OS 17.1 ( updated to 17.2 )

I keep hitting this annoying issue in safari and apparently any other app that uses the same style of widget for scrolling as safari does.

It I start scroll almost perfectly vertically, or perfectly horizontally, the iPhone decides to lock the other axis so I can no longer pan freely ( meaning, if I start scrolling nearly perfectly horizontally, I can only continue scrolling on that axis, but I can move up/down at that point. Same if I start scrolling vertically, cant move left/right after that ).

If I start scrolling diagonally its fine. This doesn't necessarily feel like a bug, more of a "feature" that I would love to disable because its incredibly annoying. I don't remember having this issue on my previous phone ( X ).

Can someone please let me know if this is a common feature or a bug? If it is a feature, please let me know how to disable this horrible invention