Ferrari F1-75

[Andi76]

In Maranello the configuration of the mini-sidepods was studied, put in the wind tunnel in a comparison with the side hollowed out in the upper part and the result was noticed to favour a car with more volume than the no-look ones.

Ferrari, therefore, in the first phase of the single-seater development work could take advantage of its sinuous shapes: the partial loss of downforce due to the lifting of the floor from the track to avoid bouncing, seems to be partly compensated by the load and the sidepods are able to produce.

The Maranello engineers, therefore, are confident in a good adaptability of the F1-75 car, in the belief that the double-floor single-seaters are easier to develop, while there are those who argue that the mini-sidepods may have greater chances of development, but require a longer work on the set-up.

The feeling is that in Maranello, although they are still on the third day of testing, they are already working as if this was a Grand Prix weekend: Ferraru is not looking for the times to chase a pole position which is not in the plans even next Saturday, but rather to find the best race pace while understanding the Pirelli tires that will be available.

Ferrari shows sincere behavior: porpoising is well controlled thanks to the adoption of the floor copied from Mclaren and the Brembo system developed on the F1-75 allows the drivers, Charles Laclerc and Carlos Sainz, not to have to deal with the frequent brake locks in the front which deteriorate the tires.

I think its hard to say which concept leaves room for more developement, but i think its the Ferrari-Concept that has greater chances for developement. Its is a new concept. The "micro-sidepod-concept" is something that was developed for many years. So i do not think there really are greater chances for developement with a concept that is already in place for a few years. That may also be the reason why Mercedes had to go radical with this design. History says that with a new technical regulary, its the new concept that usually wins. It also seems more appropriate to me to drive the floor with the rear- and beamwing(what Ferrari is doing). Not with more air over the diffusor(what Mercedes is doing). I also think it says a lot that Haas had "hidden" their real sidepod-design(very similar to the one of Ferrari), presenting the car with small sidepods, then going for sidepods very close to the Ferrari-design...its probably also not a coincident that the only two teams(Mercedes and Williams) with the "old"-sidepod concept suffered the most from porpoising.

But what do i know? And this is more a personal opinion, just based on observations and history, not based on a technical analysis. So maybe i am totally wrong.

[pantherxxx]

In Maranello the configuration of the mini-sidepods was studied, put in the wind tunnel in a comparison with the side hollowed out in the upper part and the result was noticed to favour a car with more volume than the no-look ones.
...

Is this from a website? If yes, could you forward the link please?

Yes: https://scuderiafans.com/how-ferraris-i ... rst-races/

[Andi76]

Some more interesting features of the F1-75, noticed by Giorgio Piola :

Mercedes used the upper intrusion cone to create a central wing, seperating it from the actual sidepods, in Maranello they decided to exploit the lower one not only for safety reasons, but also for structural ones. The bottom of the venturi tunnel is also anchored to the cone to avoid bending of the floor which could cause pressure drops.

Also three radiators of the power unit were packed in a way to avoid bringing to many cooling elements above the 6 cylinder to also have a very profiled to the advantage of the effiency of the rear wing and keep weight as low as possible.

F1-75 did 3941 km in pre-season testing and Charles Leclerc said this was the best winter he ever had. Italian Media said that Ferrari tested with high fuel loads and did not chase for laptimes.

What i personally noticed is the similarity of the sidepods inlets of the 1994 Ferrari and the F1-75. I remember the 1994 sidepods were called "zero-drag" -sidepods and John Barnard was inspired by the Spitfire-Airplane. So probably the new inlets follow the same "zero-drag"-concept like the ones of 1994. I assume the air coming of the gills would not be that "lazy" and more beneficial.

[Moctecus]

its probably also not a coincident that the only two teams(Mercedes and Williams) with the "old"-sidepod concept suffered the most from porpoising.

Mercedes, yes, but it looked like Williams had porpoising well under control. In Bahrain, there was no violent head-banging or mad sparking on the straights, as we saw with some of the other teams. It didn't seem to me that Williams were "suffering the most", or even more than average.
The McLaren also has small side pods and no issues whatsoever with porpoising. So I don't see any correlation between side pod concept and porpoising.

[Andi76]

its probably also not a coincident that the only two teams(Mercedes and Williams) with the "old"-sidepod concept suffered the most from porpoising.

Mercedes, yes, but it looked like Williams had porpoising well under control. In Bahrain, there was no violent head-banging or mad sparking on the straights, as we saw with some of the other teams. It didn't seem to me that Williams were "suffering the most", or even more than average.
The McLaren also has small side pods and no issues whatsoever with porpoising. So I don't see any correlation between side pod concept and porpoising.

I would not say McLarens sidepods are small anymore. They are somewhere in the middle, looks like they actually tried to get "the best of both worlds". Maybe my observations about the Williams were wrong and there is no correlation between sidepod concept and porpoising. We will find out soon, i think, and in a few weeks we will be smarter. Anyway-its interesting to watch all the different concepts and solutions! Really exciting.

[pantherxxx]

Some interesting data to note from telemetry.

Ferrari opens the DRS 50m later than the others before the finish line
Ferrari seems to be consistently faster accelerating out of corners
Ferrari is only one flat out in T7
Ferrari also seems capable of breaking later in some critical corners like T1, T10 and by a large margin in T13 and T14
Ferrari is also changing gears at lower revs, maybe that’s the optimal point for their engine, but if not, they can be even faster, it looks like Ferrari engine is finally at Merc and Honda level.

[.poz]

Some interesting data to note from telemetry.

Ferrari seems to be consistently faster accelerating out of corners
Ferrari also seems capable of breaking later in some critical corners like T1, T10 and by a large margin in T13 and T14

Maybe sidepods are more efficient in generating downforce at low speed than the floor... also a higher car with a (litle) softer setup has better traction and mechanical grip

[Andi76]

Some interesting data to note from telemetry.

Ferrari opens the DRS 50m later than the others before the finish line
Ferrari seems to be consistently faster accelerating out of corners
Ferrari is only one flat out in T7
Ferrari also seems capable of breaking later in some critical corners like T1, T10 and by a large margin in T13 and T14
Ferrari is also changing gears at lower revs, maybe that’s the optimal point for their engine, but if not, they can be even faster, it looks like Ferrari engine is finally at Merc and Honda level.

This would be explained by the reports that Ferrari is able to generate more vertical load. More grip from the tyres - you can break later, better traction, more mechanical grip. It is said thats because of the shape of the Ferrari, but i assume it is more than that. Everything on a car works together. Ferrari just made the best trade-offs&compromises so they ended up with a car that makes maximum use of the tyres, aero, engine etc.

[dialtone]

Also to add one more telemetry graph but this time comparing Bottas C3 lap on the Alfa Romeo, which I thought was a great lap, and Leclerc's, just to see the engine practically.

It's fairly easy to notice the engine RPM and Speed differences, these 2 cars have the exact same gear ratio, but in every straight the Alfa goes up in speed faster in the higher half of the curve and has higher rpm, so it's quite clear that Ferrari was running a lower engine mode than Alfa. Hard to know what mode Alfa was running, but it was the same mode as Haas from telemetry.

[mzso]

In Maranello the configuration of the mini-sidepods was studied, put in the wind tunnel in a comparison with the side hollowed out in the upper part and the result was noticed to favour a car with more volume than the no-look ones.
...

Is this from a website? If yes, could you forward the link please?

Yes: https://scuderiafans.com/how-ferraris-i ... rst-races/

So, it's fan-fiction then.

[ryaan2904]

Guys, I really recommend everyone goes through this once. Was an eye-opening thread for me. Hope to hear the thoughts of ppl smarter than me on this

[PlatinumZealot]

Guys, I really recommend everyone goes through this once. Was an eye-opening thread for me. Hope to hear the thoughts of ppl smarter than me on this

Mishandled theories. Those are not correctly applied to an F1 floor.
The diffuser throat will choke in the sense when it bottoms out it turns into rectangular duct with the ground. As the flow rate goes up, the boundary layer thickens, and boundary friction increase. At a certain flow rate this causes static pressure upstream to increase rapidly, thus reducing the down-force on the floor.

[Vanja #66]

Yes, very poor understanding of flat floor with diffuser and venturi-tunnel floor and their differences from the author. Mass flow to the venturi-tunnel diffser, ie divergent part of the tunnel, is not constant. Chocking happens when the smallest cross-section (the throat) can't let any more air through. After the throat chokes, the divergent part of the tunnel starts behaving differently and the lack of flow rate to it leads to initial separation, as there is not enough air to "expand" and stay attached to the venturi diffuser.

This separation propagates to the point where it's no longer benefitial (some separation in diffusers can be benefitial, but it depends on overall floor geometry) and this leads to less downforce. Less downforce leads to car going up, to the point where throat is not chocked anymore and natural flow is established again. Thus more downforce is produced, pulling the car down to the point where throat is chocked again etc...

[Andi76]

Is this from a website? If yes, could you forward the link please?

Yes: https://scuderiafans.com/how-ferraris-i ... rst-races/

So, it's fan-fiction then.

So everything that gets reported is fan-fiction? Even if what we knoe of another F1 team underlines this report? And telemetry? Interesting...

[zioture]