F1 | Ferrari at Fiorano with FIA mudflaps on the F1-75

Ferrari tests mudflaps for the FIA. The first day of testing at Fiorano began this morning with Arthur Leclerc and Oliver Bearman engaged, the former on the SF-75 equipped with sparyguards and the latter on the SF-24 in the livery that raced in Miami.

The Cavallino’s home track was artificially wetted and the Ferrari driven by Arthur, equipped with wheel fairings, placed itself in front of the red one driven by Ollie to evaluate the degree of visibility that can be achieved when the rain requires the use of tires full wet (blue compound) with a very significant water flow, such as to create visibility problems rather than grip of the single-seaters on the track.

While last year at Silverstone some experiments were carried out with minimally invasive solutions on the F1 cars, they had, however, given very bad results, so much so that they had been rejected. At Fiorano, however, we see a very different and very invasive concept: both the front and rear wheels have been covered by a carbon basket that completely envelops the tire.

In the front view, some “windows” were observed which have been opened and which will be gradually expanded or closed throughout the day to evaluate the behavior of the tyre, the disposal of water and the flow rate of the spray for the following rider .

The feeling is that this is an “extreme” experiment which goes so far as to completely cover the tyres, but by carefully observing these really ugly “baskets” you can also glimpse possible doors to be removed laterally, a sign that the design is by no means definitive, but the system allows you to evaluate with a certain precision at which opening threshold you begin to lose visibility.

Leclerc jr with the Ferrari F1-75 with mudflaps followed by the SF-24 with Bearman

Photo by: Alessando Stefanini

The work, therefore, managed in collaboration between the FIA, Ferrari and Pirelli includes a work plan with several runs. And it is expected that at a certain point one of the two starting drivers will also come into action: it will be up to Carlos Sainz to evaluate the changes given that he was the only one, compared to the two reserve drivers of the Cavallino, to have experience with the rain swing.

Tomorrow, however, Ferrari will dedicate the entire day to the second filming day: in addition to doing commercial filming to satisfy the title sponsor, HP, the Scuderia will be able to make an initial evaluation of the update package that will be mounted on the SF-24 (which will return to being only red) in view of the debut in the Made in Italy and Emilia Romagna GP. In the 200 km granted by the FIA, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will divide the work to find the right correlation of data between the track and the wind tunnel.