Ferrari F138

[Nando]

Nice view of the huge rear floor area and space under gearbox. Plus some slotted rear brake ducts which haven't been seen before.
http://www.formule1.nl/media/uploads/me ... 900.38.jpg

one word to describe that....

INSANE.

I mean you can even see the other side of the car there, absolutely mental coke bottle

[miguelalvesreis]

The question I would ask is: nose height aside, do you get to decide 'how much' air to send? I would tend to think that you have a given airflow and you're just trying to shape it.

Well, I think that the amount of airflow is roughly equall to the frontal projected area of the car less all the one that you don't manage to retain clean and within boundaries. ie: all the one that you send outwards of front tires.

Answering your question, yes, I think that you have to think how much air you are gona need at the top and bottom of diffuser and RW to achieve a certain DF. Then you'll find a way to shape it in a way it stays usable. You need goals or otherwise how can you improve?

[miguelalvesreis]

Nice view of the huge rear floor area and space under gearbox. Plus some slotted rear brake ducts which haven't been seen before.
http://www.formule1.nl/media/uploads/me ... 900.38.jpg

one word to describe that....

INSANE.

I mean you can even see the other side of the car there, absolutely mental coke bottle

Does anyone knows why there is a clean area and a dusty area? Seems odd that there's a distinctive line netween both!

[wesley123]

seems like flo-vis paint

[Crucial_Xtreme]

It's still early obviously but it'll be interesting to see how the 3 floor strakes below the RB inspired suspension aerofoil change with respect to placement/orientation. The outer most strake on the RB is turned at an angle(similar to the angle of the outermost edge of the actual diffuser). I don't believe the innermost strake is straight either whereas on the F138, all of the are straight.
Small observation & no big deal but to me it's an area to watch and see how the area develops. RB have more experience with these & obviously the area on their car was developed last year. But since its obviously an exact copy of the aforementioned team I'm wanting to see if they do exactly as their inspiration did/does.

To me the strakes below the suspension act as a diffuser so you'd think they want them placed in a manner that can help expand the air flow.

[Red Schneider]

To me the strakes below the suspension act as a diffuser so you'd think they want them placed in a manner that can help expand the air flow.

Then they'd fan out a little bit like a rake, right?

It probably makes good sense to put them all straight and parallel as the default for further experimentation.

[raymondu999]

I don't think it'd be a diffuser per se, but rather used as an extraction augmenter to help draw air out through the diffuser, much in the way most beam wings are used nowadays. In line with what the vanes hanging off the RW endplates are doing, and also in line with what the F138's endplates are now doing.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

To me the strakes below the suspension act as a diffuser so you'd think they want them placed in a manner that can help expand the air flow.

Then they'd fan out a little bit like a rake, right?

It probably makes good sense to put them all straight and parallel as the default for further experimentation.

Correct. After looking at some pictures from today(after posting) I can see the strakes do have a bit of angle on one or two of them but far from what RB do. Again, just an area of development to watch out for IMHO.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

I don't think it'd be a diffuser per se, but rather used as an extraction augmenter to help draw air out through the diffuser, much in the way most beam wings are used nowadays. In line with what the vanes hanging off the RW endplates are doing, and also in line with what the F138's endplates are now doing.

Mounted to the floor directly under the suspension aerofoil I think they act as a mini diffuser above the floor to help as you said expand/extract air. It has much the same function as the actual diffuser itself but I'm not stressing its named description. )

[Red Schneider]

I wonder if anyone has ever thought of putting a reverse-diffuser on the floor. Since you want low pressure beneath, then you would want high pressure above, so instead of 'expanding' the air like a normal diffuser to reduce pressure you would compress it. The slots in such a case would probably converge towards each other as opposed to fanning out.

May well be against the regs, but I just thought of it. Ferrari seems to have an awful lot of space back there.

[raymondu999]

You want low pressure at the back of the car, to help pull air out. If you compress high pressure air behind the diffuser, then less air can get there from the diffuser.

[Lorenzo_Bandini]

Not taking any merit to the amazing rear end of the F138 but, all that area must be filled with air and I'm still thinking that the front of the car is too simple. I am most probably wrong but to me, the FW seems too simplistic and I still think that it should try to divert the maximum volume of air to the interior, between cockpit and wheels.

Tombazis, at the launch of the car

"I think we have done a reasonable job and we certainly had to make a step up from where we had been in the past few years: the launch specification car, that will run at the first test, has had a relatively small amount of wind tunnel development because it was fixed straight after the end of the season, when we pushed so late on the F2012."

[hollus]

Plus to make a diffuser you need a floor and a roof. The one below the car uses the Tarmac and sucks it up. That would not work above the floor.

Edit: On a second thought, with high enough fences (and no roof) this might work to a certain point, and cars now have so much space free at the back... Rules limit those fences to 5 cm if part of the floor, but maybe it could be classified as bodywork? Especially in 2014, without the beam wing, this might make sense.

[Lorenzo_Bandini]

The nose of this car is very high. The Ferrari looks like a tank

[.poz]

Above F138, below F2012

F138

F2012