And while an ongoing package of updates could never have been expected to dramatically change shape, the small steps it has taken may have been enough to change the picture in the midfield.
Ferrari have certainly shown themselves ready to keep pushing hard and there was a lot to do on the weekend of the Portuguese Grand Prix.
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Not only did it have to allow time to focus on parts being put on the track to study the impact of the 2021 regulations, but there were new updates that would hopefully improve lap times this season .
It would be difficult to balance these requirements on a new route for which limited data are available. Especially since there was still enough time to improve the set-up and understand the tires, a challenge that it seemed to balance quite well given the strong Leclerc weekend.
Learn from the past
Ferrari SF1000 ground comparison
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Ferrari turned the clock back a little this weekend. While many of the updates introduced in recent races contained new ideas or ideas borrowed from others, the floor ridden in Portimao had a return function – three diagonally placed fins on top of the floor slots in front of the rear tire.
Ferrari began using this aerodynamic feature in 2019 (pictured to the right) and, while abandoning the concept for 2020, has made its way into other cars, including Mercedes and Red Bull.
For this year Ferrari had instead concentrated its development on the completely closed holes in the floor and introduced a new floor in Austria that had more diagonal perforations than the long ones previously used (see below).
It was hoped that in combination with the raised horizontal flap (see inset above left) the fins would not be needed.
However, as we can see (bottom right), the horizontal flap has now given way to the reintroduction of the three-slat arrangement, with Leclerc’s car being equipped with a fully prepared version made of carbon fiber, while prototype slats were quickly sewn into Sebastian Vettel’s floor.
Live in the present
The interesting thing about 2020 is that while we have the same tires as last season, the teams are still finding ways to get more out of them.
This often results in teams having to balance conflicting requirements. You need to meet the cooling needs of the brakes, improvements that can come from using the brake ducts as an aerodynamic tool, but also consider how they control heat transfer to the rim, which in turn affects the brakes and the tire’s mass temperature.
For the Portuguese GP, Ferrari had an entirely different layout at the front of the car (top left) with a more closed drum / cake pan.
The focus on the redesign seems to be aerodynamic. As a result, however, it also affects how the brakes are cooled and how the heat generated is transferred to the rim.
The old design (right) included an exposed crossover network that allowed the airflow captured by the inlet to reside in the larger cavity created by the drum, while some of the heat generated during braking was conducted into the rim. However, this also meant that the airflow was also affected by the rotation of the wheel.
The new solution completely encloses this area of the brake drum and focuses the air flow that is expelled from the wheel surface via a smaller outlet. This creates a more focused aerodynamic effect that can disrupt the turbulence of the entire assembly – wheel and tire.
This also means that the thermal relationship also changes, since the heat generated during braking is radiated differently through the assembly.
With this in mind, teardrop-shaped outlets have been installed that allow part of this heat channel to escape into the cavity between the drum and the rim.
Keep an eye on the future
Ferrari SF1000 floor detail with 2021 rules
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Ferrari knows only too well that the battle to return to the top of the field cannot be won immediately. Rather than rushing through developments that may require further conceptual changes later, the company has taken a more measured approach, introducing parts that are likely to be beneficial to the car for the next season as well.
After all, anyone who is able to mitigate even part of it has an advantage over their competitors, as the 2021 regulation changes will cost teams around 10% downforce.
With this in mind, Ferrari had a parts package in Portugal that was supposed to collect data. These parts complied with the 2021 regulations and had a floor with a diagonal recess in front of the rear tires, narrower brake duct ribs and shorter diffuser strips.
Taking the time to evaluate these parts in real-life conditions will not only allow drivers to provide feedback on the performance difference, but also provide valuable data to the team that can be used to improve the correlation with their simulation tools.
Interestingly, there was a scroll area on the Ferrari floor just in front of the rear tire to roll up the airflow and disrupt the turbulence caused by the tire. This is a role normally played by the slots in the pre-tire region and which will no longer be possible once the new rules come into effect.
Ferrari SF1000 diffuser comparison
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
In the meantime, the diffuser used during this test had the shorter strakes for 2021, which must be more than 50mm above the reference plane. As a result, Ferrari installed three vertical bands instead of the two normally mounted in the diffuser.
The post How Ferrari’s F1 advancement was aided by an old idea first appeared on monter-une-startup.
