F1 | Ferrari: Tunnel Correlation Restores Competitiveness

The Ferrari wind tunnel is once again operational after a major update of the wind tunnel was scheduled during the summer break with a new moving carpet capable of improving the aerodynamic map with a greater degree of yaw of the model and with the adoption of more advanced software, capable of detecting more precise information in search of a correlation between the world of simulation and the track.

While McLaren and Aston Martin have already redone their tunnels from scratch and Red Bull is proceeding with a new construction in Milton Keynes (also hosting the Racing Bulls), the Scuderia, having a still cutting-edge tool, has limited itself to revising the system that had been designed by the architect Renzo Piano.

Ferrari engineering chief Jock Clear explained in Singapore how the Scuderia has overcome the impasse that emerged over the summer with the development of the SF-24, which was affected by the reappearance of hopping with the aerodynamic update introduced in the Spanish GP.

The aerodynamicists led by Diego Tondi had found a slight increase in aerodynamic load, but the greater availability of downforce had re-emerged the phenomenon of bouncing in the fastest corners of the Barcelona circuit, taking away the drivers’ confidence, due to a very variable behaviour of the car from one lap to the next.

Detail of the bottom of the Ferrari SF-24 in Hungary and the heat vent of the PU

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Ferrari was therefore forced to take a step back in Austria and Great Britain, proposing a revised fund in Hungary, before the summer break, waiting for a more definitive solution to arrive in Monza. Several teams, with the exception of McLaren, have backtracked with the developments, slowing down the evolution of the single-seaters compared to the plans that had been launched.

Ferrari SF-24: here is the new fund for the Italian Grand Prix

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Charles Leclerc won the Italian GP and in Baku he took second place behind Oscar Piastri with the MCL38 after having signed the pole position, while the balance of Singapore was very negative only due to the repeated errors of the two drivers, while the SF-24 had shown the potential to be, perhaps, the only challenger to McLaren.

Jock, in a small meeting with the media, explained that the Prancing Horse technicians were forced to stop the developments, having to find the anomaly in the correlation between the tunnel data and the track.

“You are never completely sure about the updates you bring – Clear said – but the feeling is the most frequent question, even in other teams it was whether we had lost our way. And certainly after Spain, we didn’t think we had lost our way, but it emerged that there was some anomaly between what we saw in the tunnel and the data we read on the track, so we had to understand what was happening”.

Jock Clear, Ferrari engineer, with Felipe Massa

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Ferrari, therefore, has revised the development process…
“You find an anomaly, you analyze it and try to understand it and then get back on track. And that’s what we did, so we’re back on track. Now we have to keep our eyes wide open to avoid another possible anomaly, because sometimes developments don’t work: the growth process is precisely about trying something new every week. Now we believe that our growth process works, and we believe that we are at the top of everything. But we will also wait for the next… banana peel.”

Ground effect cars are very sensitive to ride height: the closer the surface is to the ground, the more aerodynamic load can be generated, but on the track the car is subjected to surfaces with roughness and bumps that modify its behaviour, with sudden losses of downforce in the most diverse dynamic conditions.

The Ferrari wind tunnel has been updated and is now operational again

Photo by: Ferrari

Small changes in height cause sudden losses of load that make the car difficult to control because it becomes unpredictable in its reactions, also taking away the confidence of the drivers.
“In the tunnel the floor is flat – Clear continues – but when you go up on a kerb what happens when it starts to bounce, in the wind tunnel you cannot see certain phenomena. Sure we can bounce the car on the carpet, but the data is not consistent with what happens on the track. It is clear, therefore, that it is impossible to have a 100% correlation. The full fidelity of the data does not exist”.

“With the ground effect you have to try to limit the load losses: in five millimetres of height you can lose all the downforce or generate the maximum load. It is in this restricted area that the competitive game is played…”.