Fabio Montecchi is one of the fathers of the Ferrari F1-75 presented today via the web. The new Red Formula 1 team will have a very important task: to bring the Maranello Scuderia back to fight for the top floors of the world-famous Circus after several years as supporting actors.
The engineer, who holds the position of Head of Chassis Project Engineering, told the official Ferrari website how the F1-75 project was born and how it has been developed over the last 2 years also due to the COVID pandemic. -19.
When was the F1-75 project born?
“The car project for the new technical regulations started in the second half of 2019. At that point it was supposed to be the car for 2021 but then the COVID pandemic arrived and postponed everything for a year, as well as the new technical regulation. . At the same time, aerodynamic development was blocked from March to December 2020. Then development started at full speed at the beginning of 2021 “.
Is the new technical regulation an opportunity or a difficulty?
“It is an exciting opportunity, in which all the points of reference of the past fall, and in which we start from a blank sheet of paper. It is necessary to think about what the characteristics of the car may be, what the limitations, the most promising “.
Ferrari F1-75, details
Photo by: Ferrari
What do you think of the technical regulation that came into force this year?
“This regulation is so different from the past that it has thrown us onto an unknown terrain to be explored. Let me give you an example: the bottom of the car will no longer be flat, but it will be three-dimensional. This will be the first time since 1982. Even just this small content. it brings with it many implications on the car set-up and on the design of the suspensions “.
What was the biggest difficulty in designing the car?
“The biggest difficulty we encountered was to harmonize the objectives we had set ourselves. These objectives were often conflicting, it was necessary to find the best compromise to optimize the overall performance”.
“Often the objectives of car weight and aerodynamic performance have come into conflict. In those moments it is important not to lose sight of the excellent performance of the car”.
With this regulation will we see different interpretations in the design of the cars?
“I think we will see different interpretations of the regulation in different areas of the vehicle. In some cases these interpretations will lead to small differences in overall performance. They will simply shift the emphasis from one to another variable. In other cases, however, the effect could be. be very big “.
How did you experience this journey towards preparing for the F1-75?
“It was a long journey in which passion, enthusiasm and curiosity were the masters. Today, however, at this moment, what I feel is impatience to see her on the track and the desire to finally get back to fighting for the summit”.
Are you satisfied with the work you have done?
“What I can say is that I am proud of the whole team. Then to be satisfied we will have to see the first results on the track.”
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