By Carlo Platella
The 2024 season marks a turning point for the Prancing Horse, which compared to the past enjoys a more competitive single-seater in the race than in qualifying. The character of the ‘racing’ Ferrari emerges at every Grand Prix and is reflected in the team’s approach which now dedicates more attention to Sunday during the preparation of the weekend. The new design philosophy was born in reaction to the tire degradation problems of recent seasons, but also from the particularities of the ground effect underlying the current Formula 1 cars.
Beyond the tires
It has been observed several times how the SF-24 was born to be more docile on the tyresextending its life in the race to the detriment of exploitation and speed of ignition in qualifying. This is a quality that depends on multiple factors, such as the transfer of loads to the tires or the angles and deformations at which they work. However, attention to roofing was not the only aspect taken into consideration when setting up the project.
On the occasion of the last Italian Grand Prix Jock Clear, Senior Performance Engineer of the Cavallino, underlined a particularity of modern Formula 1: “These ground effect cars are very sensitive to ground clearances. Each team has a different idea of where to make the car work best. For this reason, going from qualifying to the race, you see a slightly different hierarchical picture between the various cars.” With the old regulations, the single-seaters started from a static ground clearance of over 100 mm, compared to around 60 mm for the current cars. This, combined with the power of the three-dimensional bottoms equipped with Venturi channels, means that even a handful of millimeters of difference have large repercussions on the lower aerodynamics.
It is therefore necessary to optimize the design of the bottom to work best in a precise range of heights from the ground, which must be supported by the characteristics of the suspensions. This is ultimately what it constitutes the ‘concept’ of a carunderstood as the way the car works and the conditions in which it releases performance. In this specific case, Ferrari has chosen to develop its single-seater at the heights from the ground typically experienced on Sundays. In fact, in the race the car runs slower and therefore less pressed against the ground than in qualifying, despite the fuel loaded.
The pilots thank you
The particularity of the ground effect and the extreme sensitivity to ground clearance make it difficult to identify in a general way the most favorable curves for each car. Clear continues: “Five years ago perhaps it could be said generically that someone was more competitive in the high-speed corners and less so in the slow ones. However, this is no longer very validbecause in some corners you can appear more or less competitive based on the fuel you have on board or whether you are in qualifying or in the race. It’s very difficult to have a clear trend of what others are doing.”
In the era of ground effect Formula 1 finding a good compromise between qualifying and the race is more difficult than in the past. Depending on whether the car has a lot or little fuel on board, the bottom oscillates and approaches the ground in a completely different way. All of this not only impacts the aerodynamics and the stresses transmitted to the wheels, but also the confidence in the vehicle. A driver who is more comfortable with the car in racing conditions also makes fewer corrections on the steering wheel, thus avoiding slipping and overheating the tires. All factors that have spurred Ferrari to change its approach compared to the past, no longer developing a Saturday queen, but a ‘race’ car.
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