The rumors about the new Ferrari overlap: while Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are fighting with Mercedes to compete for second place in the Constructors’ World Championship behind Red Bull, there is no shortage of previews on what next year’s red car should be.
The technical director of the chassis area, Enrico Cardile, admitted that the 676 project will represent a clear break with the SF-23. And Fred Vasseur himself, team principal who is shaping the Racing Department according to his dictates, has made no secret that Ferrari will follow new lines of development, even if the working group in the top figures has essentially remained the same as he first took care of the F1-75 and then the SF-23.
The indications speak of a rear end that will have to be more extreme than the current one, suggesting that Ferrari could follow Red Bull in adopting the push rod rear suspension, because the strut would not interfere with the surface and, indeed, raising the internal kinematics should allow the creation of an even narrower gearbox keel.
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Ferrari SF-23: the gearbox seen from below and the pull rod rear suspension
And, following the idea of a review of the concepts in Maranello, there are those who are also betting on the transition to the pull rod scheme in the front suspension, given that the single-seaters that are popular now (Red Bull and McLaren) have chosen this configuration .
According to Motorsport.com, however, Ferrari will not change the suspension layouts in 2024, remaining faithful to the front push rod and rear pull rod, in the knowledge, however, that the kinematic mechanisms will be completely redesigned. In short, Maranello is aware that there is no point in throwing overboard the experience gained over the years, but it is necessary to adapt the systems to the needs of a ground effect single-seater which tries to keep the surface closer to the asphalt the possible and the “body” in a position that is as stable as possible to avoid sudden load variations which can have harmful effects on tire wear.
Let’s prepare ourselves, therefore, for very inclined arms to favor the front anti-dive and rear anti-squat effect, but not for revolutions of patterns. So where will the lines of change end up? According to the information we have gathered, a lot of work is being done at Gestion Sportiva on a body that will be completely new. Totally new design, following some key concepts that have made the RB19 an impregnable machine.
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Ferrari SF-23: you can see the protrusion of the lower anti-intrusion cone which dirty the hollow line of the belly
To begin with, the position of the lower anti-intrusion cone will be reviewed which today negatively interferes with the aerodynamic shape, generating a blockage where others have managed to create a deep undercut, useful for bringing the flow onto the pavement.
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Ferrari SF-23: the boxy chassis will give way to a Red Bull-type keel version in 2024
But the innovations will also be seen in the front part of the frame which will no longer have a squared section like on the SF-23, but following the line of research exasperated by Adrian Newey on the Red Bull, the red one will also try to take on the appearance of a keel in the lower part, with the clear intention of reducing the frontal section and, therefore, the resistance to progress.
Not only that, but it is not excluded that the layout of the car will also be changed slightly with the intention of moving the passenger compartment a little further back, to ensure that the bellies are not affected by the harmful turbulence of the front wheels, shortening the consequently the transmission case slightly. This is the trend that James Allison is also following with Mercedes, after Lewis Hamilton had complained of a driving position that was too advanced for two years in a row.
It is easy to predict, therefore, that there will be a convergence on Red Bull solutions, even if Adrian Newey has already admitted with our Giorgio Piola that the RB20 will represent another leap forward compared to the car that dominates the 2023 season by breaking all records…
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