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I don't want to quote any specifics since it's against their rules and I respect their wishes, but I am subscribed and nothing in the full article is new news (as in everything there is stuff we already knew.) Tomorrow will be testing for suspension and both drivers will be there.
I would like to hear some opinions regarding the performance of Hamilton. Is it me or is he much better in the last 5 races compared to what he was at the start?
Is it really much of a surprise that a driver will get faster when he gets more experience & mileage with an unfamiliar vehicle?
I would like to hear some opinions regarding the performance of Hamilton. Is it me or is he much better in the last 5 races compared to what he was at the start?
I can not see a difference. Can you explain where you see the difference?
Especially if I look at the laptime charts, the first two races were actually very close between Ham and Lec. The only really big difference is Saudi in the first stint.
According to AR all 200km of the test proceeded without issues. Track side reactions to the suspension were good and it's expected they'll bring it to Spa, however it's difficult to see the true impact and if the drivers like the balance more with it since Mugello isn't a calendar circuit.
According to AR all 200km of the test proceeded without issues. Track side reactions to the suspension were good and it's expected they'll bring it to Spa, however it's difficult to see the true impact and if the drivers like the balance more with it since Mugello isn't a calendar circuit.
Spa is a good test for it. A good mix of corners. With these cars, its more power-sensitive and low-drag-oriented, but you still need a really good balance through S2.
According to AR all 200km of the test proceeded without issues. Track side reactions to the suspension were good and it's expected they'll bring it to Spa, however it's difficult to see the true impact and if the drivers like the balance more with it since Mugello isn't a calendar circuit.
Spa is a good test for it. A good mix of corners. With these cars, its more power-sensitive and low-drag-oriented, but you still need a really good balance through S2.
Spa is important because the teams try to minimize the wings amap to lower drag and increase top speed, therefore the suspension's ability to let them run lower for more underfloor downforce is even more magnified in the medium and fast Spa turns. Spa is the real test more so than Hungary and Zandvoort in between the two.
I'm expecting the Ferrari's new solution of the Pull-rod do well because I believe the Mercedes solution was too extreme for the W16 or not the right change because now it struggle massively in the high speed now because of how much anti-lift the car is running. So, the anti-lift can majorly impact a cars inertia through the high speed depending on how the suspension is designed and laid out. I think Mercedes thought the change was necessary it terms of tyre degradation and proving massive generation from the floor that they didn't think of the factor that actually makes the car perform effectively in all series of corners.
(Maybe the anti-dive on the front and anti-lift rear on the W16 is too radical for the roll bars to function effectively?)
Ferrari played it safe that way it's designed while focusing on 2 areas: Stability, and lateral Body Roll. Reports from the Mugello indicates that they got those 2 issues down correctly. So, I'm expecting good thing from the Scuderia, unless Mercedes does a necessary change to their suspension in Spa (which I doubt). But the 2nd part of the season could get real interesting.
“The most important day for Ferrari so far this year is upon us and it’s not Race Day but Filming Day! The new rear suspension will be tested at Mugello. Can it help us consistently fight at the front?
I posted my view on the suspension a few weeks ago. I theorised then, that the SF-25 had a lower roll center which was causing greater body roll in high speed corners negatively impacting drivability. With this new suspension, I expect to see the suspension arms/wishbones be more angled which should raise the roll center. This should not only improve drivability (less roll), but just allow Ferrari to use more rear downforce. See below figure for how I expect that to happen (only directionally - because obviously I don’t have any info on what exactly will be the impact).
The vertical force acting on the car is absorbed through both suspension linkages (via control arms) and through springs/dampers. When the roll center is lower, more vertical load needs to be absorbed by the spring/damper (shown in blue). With a higher roll center, the proportion of vertical load going through the suspension linkages increases (shown in green in below diagram). Now it has been all but confirmed that the damper on SF-25 is not strong/big enough to withstand high vertical load (even The Race mentioned it in their recent video). By changing the suspension arm geometry on the new rear suspension and raising the roll center (this is my expectation - we haven’t seen any pics yet of the new suspension), more vertical load can pass through suspension linkages. If Ferrari has also managed to increase damping capacity, then this would mean increased vertical load handling capability from spring/damper. This would allow the SF-25 to run at lower ride-heights and experience more vertical force. Given in this scenario, we are asking more of the suspension linkages (compared to previous), they need to be very strong structurally to withstand the higher load. Likely this why the test is happening in Mugello. This track’s high speed corners at low ride height + high-ish dwf rear wing would generate a lot of vertical load allowing Ferrari to understand how much vertical load the new suspension setup is able to withstand.”
The modification(s) were to fix a problem rather than to apply incremental upgrades. It is not unreasonable to think those problems could have been worth considerable time due to the compromises they created.
If it was worth 0.1 per lap, I would not be surprised. And let's be honest, disappointment usually follows with this team.
But equally, if all of a sudden they were fighting right at the front, it would not come as a complete shock either.
In 2024, Leclerc & Sainz requested 2 very different modifications to the power steering. Ferrari went in Sainz's direction. Hamilton, after his first laps with the SF-25, said: 'You're crazy to use power steering like that."
So Ferrari used the Sainz steering suggestion instead just listening to their faster driver.
