Once the complicated 2023 is over, the headlong dive is immediately towards next season, and despite many of the key choices being have already been decided for almost all teams, the next few weeks will be anyway very hot for the completion of the works and the creation of the new cars that will compete on the track starting from March 2024. Obviously this is the phase of most hidden secretswhere no team lets anything leak for obvious reasons, so instead of chasing rumors, we decided to think about the new Ferrari in terms of what she technically lacked in the 2023 season and that he will need absolutely for the next one to do a concrete step forward from a performance point of view, and we will see if, and above all how, the Maranello engineers will work on these concepts.
Engine: power and reliability are already excellent, industrial quality needs to be improved
Let’s start from the somewhat simpler topic, that is Power Unit. That of the Cavallino appeared to be the reference from the point of view of power, or at least of torque at medium-low rpm. The impression is that the endothermic component is indeed the best performing of the lotwhile it still exists margin for improvement on the hybrid part, although the phases of very marked “clipping” at the end of the straight even in the qualifying laps now appear distant. Also the elasticity of supply it appeared good, with the Maranello engineers who seemed able to optimize the release of power (what the drivers call “drivability”) effectively in the different circuits of the season. The reality is that, in any case, it is increasingly difficult to compare drive units based on pure performance: the rule of unique mapping for the weekend, combined with the need to make the units last for around 8 Grands Prix allows the teams to exploit only a portion of the maximum potential of the Power Unit, significantly flattening the performance differences. From the point of view ofmechanical reliability of the combustion engine, the Ferrari unit seemed to have reached the targets of the competition, however some situations seen during the year have an impact, with electronics who had problems at the beginning of the season and the no departures of Sainz in Qatar and above all of Leclerc in Brazil, to indicate a optimizable industrial process from the point of view of quality system and in which it is necessary to invest and improve, remembering that Verstappen completed in 2023 all the rounds of the world championship.
Aero-Mechanics: a single voice for two disciplines competing for the same purpose
If already in the past the mechanics it was at the service of aerodynamics and the two “disciplines” went hand in hand, the advent of ground effect cars enhanced this aspect even more. Many key aerodynamic factors, such as the height from the ground of the car e the dynamic response when cornering they turn out to be in reality purely mechanicalwith the suspension package called upon to optimally manage all these key performance items. It’s here an important leap needs to be made in Maranello. Many reduce the question to choice of pull-rod or push-rod scheme, similar for example between Red Bull and McLaren, unlike what was chosen by Ferrari and Mercedes, but the reality is that these systems have a series of differences that are not entirely substantial, and the choice of one scheme rather than another does not make a difference which we saw the RB19 do compared to the SF-23. There is actually a need to expand the variables available to engineers when defining the structureto ensure that the system has an always optimal response although the stress to which it is subjected is extremely varied, both within the same lap and at various fuel load conditions. To give a few examples, the ability of the suspension system to remain extremely rigid when cornering, so as to guarantee the stability and therefore the effectiveness of the aerodynamic platform when it is most necessary, goes hand in hand with the need to absorb bumps and curbs to minimize the detachments of the flows from the car body. Even when braking, the pitching movement of the car must be limited and requires an “anti-dive” suspension system, to prevent the car from tilting towards the front during violent braking, stalling the aerodynamic profiles which they will then have to overcome. a longer transition phase to return to functioning correctly when cornering. So there is a research phase important to work on in Maranello to significantly improve the dynamic response of the car, and avoid many complicated situations in which we have seen, beyond a lower speed, drivers struggle a lot in managing the car through corners. Not just aerodynamics though, the entire mechanical scheme also plays a key role in how the cars heat up and manage the tires, an aspect in which Red Bull was absolutely dominant in the world championship just ended. Let it be variables when the car is stationarysuch as the camber and toe angles, and those relating to kinematics of the suspension groups they help define the footprint of the tire on a straight line and on bends, thus becoming an important element in tire management. The perception is that in Milton Keynes the suspension adjustment and calibration options available to pilots and engineers were significantly higher of those usable in Maranello, with the SF-23 which we saw suffer, for example, the differences in ground clearances between full load and qualificationor having to compromise with softer settings, with the related difficulties in transients. The leap to be taken on this front for Ferrari is therefore important, and necessary for a process at a non-secondary industrial level, with research that must proceed hand in hand with the coordination of key suppliers, but Maranello’s history teaches us that if the correct objectives are set, from a mechanical point of view the engineers of the red have nothing to envy of the competition.
Aerodynamics: load and stability to be found
Coming to aerodynamics, the starting point can only be that of increase the available load. The project targets, which proved to be clearly underestimated, for the SF-23 led to a single-seater that suffered throughout the year from a conceptual nature lacking from the downforce point of view, all limited by a anterior too weak precisely aerodynamically which prevented us from being able to use the high load configurations available. Beyond the choice of wings, the car has always lacked vertical load from the body and above all from the bottomwith a process that especially involved this last part in which it was done a large investment to find a profitable path. The impression is that the initial revolution, with the exit of Mattia Binotto and David Sanchez, combined with the discovery of a significantly underperforming SF-23, left a initial phase of disorientation for the red team’s engineers, who however worked correctly to find a path that not only solved short-term problems, but which guaranteed a path of future development. And so, after (if we have done the math correctly) 6 main different background specifications used in the season, a Suzuka the final version has arrived which brought a decidedly more reactive and precise front (with the “rebirth” of Leclerc), a balancing definitely more balanced and a tire management markedly improved. This effort, however, was only the first step, that of taking the road, which now however must be followed. Next season’s single-seater must recover the vertical load that was missing in 2023 and all the gains that the opponents will obtain with the new single-seaters, therefore an important gap to fill. It must be said that with these cars the difficulty does not seem so much in managing to find the vertical load, how much of be able to use it correctlywith the porpoising always around the corner, under control but never really eliminated a bit for everyone except, perhaps, for Red Bull.
The chassis it will then adapt accordingly, with the now obvious maximization of undercut under the side air intakes which will certainly be fully exploited, moving the anti-intrusion cones which on the SF-23 inevitably represented bulges which will therefore be eliminated, precisely in an area which has proven to be very important for load generation. The other aspect is the aerodynamic stabilityi.e., put simply, how much the flows tend to continue to function correctly even in the presence of external disturbing agents, such as the movements of the car, or the wind. Precisely the high sensitivity to this last factor has often exposed the weakness of the SF-23 on this front, as well as a car that is always in difficulty in longer curves precisely because of the trend to the separation of flows which generated a significant inconsistency in responses. All this is clearly interconnectedand is part of a single new aerodynamic look that the 2024 car will have to wear, in a system like the aerodynamics of a Formula 1, where every single component is subservient to an overall cause, and is therefore the birth of the new aerodynamic concept having to carry all the aspects listed so far.
The sum of what has been described so far regarding mechanics and aerodynamics determines the width of the famous vehicle operating window, i.e. its ability to bring and maintain the tires (and all components) in the correct temperature and operating window. The more a car is aerodynamically stable, has load (but efficient), has good mechanics which guarantees the continuous optimization of responses, the wider and more usable this window will be on every circuit and in every environmental condition, just as happened to Red Bull in 2023 .
Winning straight away is almost impossible but the important thing will be to apply pressure
We end this long analysis with the consideration that even if Ferrari manages to make most of the improvements described here, it will hardly be able to immediately overtake a Red Bull with such a large advantage as the one we have seen this season and which works on new car left since last summer. What would be very important, however, for the Maranello team would be to be definitely closer to rivals Milton Keynes to start putting concrete pressure on the shoulders of Horner and Verstappen, trying to open the possibility for errorboth in the management of the weekends (always handled calmly by Red Bull last year, given their clear superiority), both in the development process. Nobody is perfect and if put under great pressure even the strongest can make mistakes. Certainly, however, Ferrari now has very few jokers, and 2024 will necessarily have to be a year of recoveryfor the drivers, the fans and for Frederic Vasseurwhose imprint it will become evident not only in weekend management but also in delicate work such as the genesis of a new car.
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