Cs98 wrote: ↑11 May 2024, 10:01
bananapeel23 wrote: ↑10 May 2024, 20:47
Cs98 wrote: ↑10 May 2024, 18:44
The upgrades are significant but they are clearly an evolution. Finding 4 tenths through one evolutionary in season upgrade is incredibly difficult. Macca did it last week but if you go down the list of components they changed you'll see that they hit basically everything. Front wing, suspension front and rear, floor, sidepod inlets, sidepod body, engine cover, coke bottle, beam wing, brake cooling inlets. The lot, and substantial changes too, not just tinkering a bit. Brand new front wing, brand new floor etc. That was 4 tenths (we think), and clearly making up for the lack of upgrades on the launch spec McL. Ferrari's launch spec was a far bigger step from the SF-23, and from what we've seen so far the upgrade is not as extensive as the Macca IMO. And then you had the Italian media for a long time saying they were expecting 2-3 tenths before they suddenly changed their tune and increased that as we got closer, is that genuine or just a bit of extra hype so that the same outlets can sell you the same story twice? Who knows. I am expecting 2-3 tenths, but I wouldn't be shocked if it was slightly more or less, you never know for sure until they race.
McLaren had issues that needed to be rectified before they could start going after outright performance. A lot of the work they put into the upgrade package was probably not aimed at outright performance, but rather at addressing issues that have popped up at certain tracks, like tyre wear or a narrow setup window. Only after they solved those issues could they chase outright performance.
Ferrari doesn't have that issue. They have the most mild-tempered car of all this season. The thing is insanely kind on its tyres, appears to have a massive setup window, has worked on every track so far and appears to have no significant weaknesses. It's a great car with no weaknesses to iron out before they can start chasing performance.
That means the Ferrari upgrades are in all likelihood simply focused on increasing downforce and losing drag, which is a luxury McLaren didn't have. As such even a smaller upgrade can yield similar performance gains, as they don't have to focus on anything other than pure performance. Ferrari didn't need a revolution, they needed an evolution.
Upgrades are always about "fixing issues". The bigger the issue usually the more time there is to gain, see McLaren last year. But the idea that the launch spec McLaren was some notorious problem child is not true. They dealt with most of their major issues last season already, so it was already a good car. They just made it better by solving smaller issues and adding performance. There may even be something to be said for the theory that a car with issues is easier to find big performance gains with. Because there's an obvious development path whereas a car with no obvious weakness the development becomes much more incremental. A tenth here and a tenth there but rarely will you find 4 tenths of pure performance in one go.
The idea I'm trying to push is that "issue-correcting" upgrades are often more of a track-specific type of upgrade. At some tracks those issues might not cause any issues, at others they may completely ruin your weekend. That means that upgrades aimed at resolving something like bottoming or excessive tyre wear might yield 5 tenths at some tracks, and do nothing at others. They aren't pure performance upgrades that translate well to every track. Sometimes you may even have to sacrifice some peak performance to resolve those issues.
Upgrades that aren't aimed at resolving issues like those above are obviously going to be easier to squeeze performance out of, since there are no other design considerations than outright performance. If you have great car balance and a great suspension setup with a large setup window, you don't have to account for your car slipping out of the setup window if you improve floor efficiency or alter the aero balance ever so slightly for overall efficiency.
Obviously the reality is far more complex and there are certainly tradeoffs going on even at Ferrari, but obviously it's going to be easier to squeeze performance out of something that is predictable and compliant at every track than something that varies from track to track.
